Kaillum McDermont pursues passion with Foundation's employability coaching

Avid amateur footballer Kaillum McDermont came to the Foundation of Light during a difficult period in his personal life.

The young father had just had a major leg injury which stopped him playing football for more than a year, losing his main outlet for enjoyment while balancing the pressures of parenthood. 

As he started to recover, the 19-year-old signed up for some one-to-one coaching sessions with the Foundation of Light to rebuild on the pitch, but it was during this time he started to find his calling off the pitch. 

Having lacked a clear career plan previously, seeing the way his coach, Nick Lander, supported him, helped Kaillum realise he would love to support people through coaching.

Nick suggested that Kaillum should get in touch with the employability coaching team at the Foundation of Light who could help him find relevant courses and build employability skills. 

It was clear to his employability coach, Anth Parkinson, that Kaillum was personable and intelligent, but lacked routine and direction. 

Anth helped build on Kaillum's clear potential and transferable skills, while also working on key professional skills including interviewing and CV writing, and started to find coaching qualification for him to enrol on. 

As Kaillum's confidence and qualifications began to grow, he started to volunteer with the Foundation of Light upon the completion of his FA Level 1 in coaching.

Starting out by shadowing Foundation coaches, Kaillum is now able to lead sessions independently which has allowed him to pick up casual paid shifts with Sunderland AFC's official charity.

His passion and enthusiasm was clear and he would always be the first to volunteer to support Foundation events as well as receiving constant positive feedback from parents and his lead coaches.

Kaillum has now found full-time employment as a lifeguard while also continuing to pick up casual football coaching shifts with the Foundation of Light.