‘We can challenge the huge amount of food inequality in Bristol’

Food has always been an important part of my life. I loved cooking with my mum when I was a kid. I savoured those special moments; they made me feel valuable and gave me great comfort, purpose and a greater understanding of who I was and what I could be.

That was when I started to understand the power of food: its ability to be able to bring people together and how it can create connection with the world, your family, your friends and your community.

Food holds so much power. So when you don’t have it, don’t have enough of it and don’t experience the enrichment that food brings, you are faced with not only hunger, but also detachment, fear and isolation. I’ve been there. I understand the impact that hunger and lack of access to good food has on your self-worth.

I’ve never talked publicly about this before, but I had a lot of support from Barnardos when I was growing up. They helped me to learn new skills and connect with thoughts and emotions that I’d supressed for so long. It had an incredible transformational impact on me.

My fear dissipated; my sense of self started rising. I took a dance class shortly after, which led to auditions, my role in Game of Thrones and everything else that’s come since.

Maisie Williams is The MAZI Project’s new ambassador

I have been inspired to talk publicly and be more open about my past after being introduced to Bristol’s The MAZI Project, a Community Interest Company who work with an increasing number of 16 to 25-year-olds in the city, many of whom are in care or are refugees, and develop and deliver brilliant, inspiring and healthy recipe boxes to their doorsteps.

This simple act has such a powerful impact. Learning to cook increases a sense of self-worth and confidence in young people. It not only helps them feel part of a community and reduces isolation, but it also helps include them in the fight against climate change and teaches them ways to cook sustainably.

What The MAZI Project does is incredibly unique and very effective. Through food, taste, experience and new skills, they help young people realise they are capable of things they never even considered. One of them was recently accepted into Cambridge University!

Another now has a paid job at a restaurant in the city. That’s the extraordinary power that a little nurture can have; it goes a very long way. It’s truly transformational. When nearly 10 per cent of 16 to 25-year-olds in Bristol suffer from moderate to severe food insecurity, its urgent that we help organisations like The MAZI Project to support them.

And that’s why I’m so happy as well as humbled to be able to support this extraordinary project and come on board as their ambassador, particularly at such a crucial time for the project, as they have seen a 46 per cent increase in referrals since the beginning of September.

I now feel empowered to talk about my personal experiences through MAZI in the hope that together we can help young people understand their own self-worth through the power of food. And that food helps you grow, helps you connect, helps you know who you are and what you’re capable of.

I’m living proof of that.

Bristol is home to one of the most thriving food scenes in the country, but it’s also home to a huge amount of food inequality. We can challenge this together by connecting Bristol’s disadvantaged young people to their local rich food culture, through projects like The Mazi Project.

Together we can work towards a Bristol – and a world – where access to fresh, sustainable food and education around food is not a privilege or predetermined by your social class or background, but instead by choice.

MAZI is a grassroot organisation empowering and nourishing disadvantaged young people

Maisie Williams is an actress, entrepreneur and activist

All photos: Jack Abbott

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