Empire Fighting Chance 

Charlotte Jackson visits Empire Fighting Chance, a leading sport for development charity, to find out about their community cooking work.

At Empire Fighting Chance, the boxing ring is more than just a place to train — it’s a space where young people become inspired to realise their potential. Through a powerful blend of non-contact boxing, mentoring and nutrition, the charity works to transform the lives of 8–25 year olds affected by inequality.  

During a recent visit, I heard how good food is helping young boxers build skills, friendships, and confidence, and met some of the team bringing community cooking to life at the gym. 

Mariella, a youth voice ambassador and fundraiser at Empire explained that the charity runs a regular six-week cooking course to provide food preparation and nutritional skills alongside boxing training. For Mariella, good food means colourful plates and viewing food as a fuel, encouraging eating in a way that fuels the body intuitively. It also means connecting the dots across the city, so that all young people can access food support and education, wherever they live: 

“There’s loads of great services and organisations, but I think everybody needs to work together across the city so that something that’s happening in South Bristol is also happening in central Bristol and everyone gets equal food opportunities”.  

It’s a vision shared by Serena, a community outreach youth worker at Empire. Serena has been working to bring together young people from across Bristol — Southmead, Easton, St Pauls, Fishponds and beyond — to the cooking classes and courses they run. “When you mix people from different communities, it kind of stops those barriers,” she explained. Through shared meals, young people connect, learn about each other’s cultures and foster relationships that transcend their own neighbourhoods. 

At the heart of these projects is Kirsten Rees, a nutritional therapist and health coach. Kirsten’s work focuses on empowering young people to understand the role food plays in their wellbeing; “The way we eat can give us life, help us flourish, and can really affect our mental and physical health, so it’s about empowering our young people to understand their responsibility and power within this choice.”  

But she’s also keenly aware that for many, choice is limited by inequality. “Right now, a lot of our young people don’t have a choice whether they can get food that actually feeds their own bodies,” she said. That’s why Kirsten is passionate about providing nutritious food and teaching cooking skills while fighting for equal access.  

The impact of Empire’s community cooking classes is already being felt. The sessions — which run on the first Tuesday of each month — are a welcoming space where young people lead, learn, and share. Volunteers from across the community, restaurateurs, a young persons’ grandmother and a cook from Sierra Leone, have all joined to teach favourite recipes and traditions, making the classes a true celebration of Bristol’s food culture. 

Want to get involved? 

Empire Fighting Chance’s next community cooking session will be held on Tuesday 6 May. If you’re a chef, home cook, or food producer and want to support Empire’s work — whether by teaching a dish or donating ingredients — Kirsten (kirsten@empirefightingchance.org) would love to hear from you.