Game of Thrones actor becomes Bristol food charity ambassador
Maisie Williams says The Mazi Project's work is "truly transformational"
Game of Thrones actor and Bristolian Maisie Williams has become an ambassador for a food charity in the city, saying it "truly transforms lives".
The Mazi Project, set up in 2020 during a Covid lockdown, delivers meal kits to vulnerable young people in Bristol, helping them learn to cook, while providing them with the balanced diet and nutrients they need.
In the UK, 81 per cent of vulnerable young people say they must borrow money from family or friends to pay for food and/or rely on family or friends for donations of food.
Forty per cent say they do this often.
Mel Vaxevanakis is the charity's founder.
“We’ve seen a 40% increase in referrals to The MAZI Project in the last 2 months," she said.
"The growth in referrals for our meal kits, which we deliver weekly to Bristol’s hungry youth, shows the issue of food insecurity is increasing every day.
"For asylum seekers, care leavers and Bristol’s homeless youth, the issue requires urgent action.
"For many, Christmas is a time of joy, time with family and friends but for the young people we help, Christmas is the loneliest time of the year.
"Their sense of isolation increases exponentially, which impacts our ability to empower them into creating a better future for themselves and their community."
Williams, who was born in Bristol and went to school in Midsomer Norton, says she experienced food insecurity herself in her youth.
“Food holds so much power," she said.
"So, when you don’t have it, don’t have enough of it, or 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’ve felt this. I understand the impact it 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 and connect with thoughts and emotions that I’d suppressed 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.
“The impact that a little nurture, time and care can have on young people is genuinely life changing.
"That’s what The MAZI Project is providing for the young people they help and that’s why I wanted to get involved.”
The actor adds the work the Project does, has a huge impact.
“What Mel and the team do is incredibly unique and very effective," she said.
"Through food, taste, experience and new skills, The MAZI Project helps its young people realise they are capable of things they never even considered.
"One of them was recently accepted into Cambridge University!
"And another into Bristol 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."
If you want to find out more about The Mazi Project you can do so here.
You can also donate to their cause via this link, while if you know a young person in Bristol facing food insecurity, then they ask you email hello@themaziproject.com.