Kemi Madumere, Director at Brighter Futures Project, (BFP) a specialist skills hub for adults with a learning disability, and finalist in the Health and Wellbeing category at the Royal Business Awards. 

What do you love most about your job?

I love seeing the progress each of our service users makes no matter how small - often when we read the profiles of our clients it talks about what they can't do and won't do, very rarely does it focus on what they could possibly achieve. We introduce our service users to different experiences in different settings which allows them to not only try new things but learn new skills. Watching them get better and stronger at the activities is one of the highlights of my job.

What is a typical day for you and your business?

I wake up with enough time to walk my dog, which gives me time to plan my day, go through my affirmations for the day or listen to a podcast to get me ready for the working day.  Once at work a typical day at the  moment is joining in the activities that would have been set up for that day for the service users. It might be a healthy cooking day  - this will sometimes involve us making a short day trip to the shops to practice our road safety and money management in the local shops before coming back to cook in the kitchen. After lunch, which we usually all have upstairs in the cafe together, we head off to our local gym to work with our dedicated personal trainer. We all get stuck in the activities, both staff and service users. When I'm not working with service users I'm often in meetings as a director for both Brighter Futures and Compass Supported Living Homes and will usually stay at work till about 7pm to catch up with paperwork. Everyone leaves around 5pm so I have the place to myself to work in peace.  When I get home, I will usually help or support my daughter with her GCSE studies before making us something to eat (I have usually prepared meals for the week on Sunday, this way we avoid eating too late). Once dinner is over, I may do some more work if I have still got things outstanding or have an early night.

A tip for women who want to start their career in your sector?

Make connections - running a business can be a lonely experience and a stressful one, even more so within the healthcare industry since the pandemic, where we have all needed support, advice and guidance during such a turbulent time. It’s important to have a support system you can rant to, seek advice from and exchange ideas and just form some really good allies. That kind of network is invaluable.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to where you are?

I have always loved running businesses and knew as early as aged 13 I wanted to run companies. My first ever company was  a children's club putting on performances for the local kids based in Nigeria. It was formed by myself and my next door neighbour as a way to keep ourselves occupied during the summer holidays. We were called Childrens Cooperative Club! We created shows and charged entry fees to watch our performance. The success of that led me to try many other businesses including businesses funded by the Prince’s Trust in my early twenties. Before starting Brighter Futures , I ran a successful property agency for 7 years with my husband, however the business was badly affected by Brexit which forced us to look at what else we could do. We learnt about the concept of providing supported living homes on a property course. It was mentioned just in passing but as soon as I heard the concept I loved it. Brighter Futures was born from Compass when we realised a lot of our service users didn't have anywhere to go to keep occupied or socialise with like-minded people. The idea has been well accepted even with the challenges we faced during the lockdown when we first opened. 

What do you like most about running your business in Royal Greenwich?

I live in Greenwich, my daughter has schooled in Greenwich, Greenwich is my community, so being able to work in the community I live in makes me feel like I'm giving back. I love seeing the outcome of all the work we are doing in the borough.

What role does your business play in the local area? 

I hope our business is playing an important role in supporting individuals who are often left with few choices and limited access to many things in the borough they live in.  Brighter Futures seeks to redress this by bringing things in the community to a group of people who are often isolated due to their complex needs and inability to access services. Our role is vital to aid with connecting these individuals in their communities.