Did you know that between 2020 and 2021 over 6,633 young people in Bristol suffered from severe to moderate food insecurity? An astonishing figure, but one that The MAZI Project is doing some about. Supporting care leavers, young asylum seekers, and youth recovering from homelessness and fleeing domestic violence, the organisation is all about empowering young people with food. And it’s hard work isn’t slowing down.
It now wants to open a community kitchen in South Bristol (it already has a warehouse off East Street) to create a “safe, inclusive and encouraging space that helps improve young people’s mental and physical health”. The new kitchen will also provide The MAZI Project with the chance to generate more income – with room to host more corporate volunteers, pop-up fundraising events and take on more orders for its pay-it-forward meal kit scheme.
But the old warehouse is currently a complete shell. So it’s trying to raise £20,000 to kit out the kitchen with catering equipment. With this, The Mazi Project will be able to double the amount of young people it can support, as well as host more cooking classes and events. It will also mean that the marginalised young people in Bristol have a space they can call their own. Think of it as a youth centre about food!
What does the MAZI Project offer?
From providing weekly recipe kits and educational cooking workshops to finding hospitality employment opportunities for marginalised 16- to 25-year-olds, the MAZI Project is doing some incredible work in Bristol. The MAZI Project sends out weekly recipe boxes to the young people it supports. Including up to three recipes, all the boxes include locally sourced and high-quality ingredients, pre-weighed dry ingredients and a simple-to-follow recipe card.
Its educational cooking programmes, meanwhile, teach marginalised groups about where food comes from and how to cook sustainably. While young people with an interest in working in hospitality are also given the chance to host pop-up events through the organisation. One example of this is Leo, who launched a Japanese pop-up with the help of a local mentor/chef, and now sells her food on All About The Cooks.
What rewards are there for donating?
You can’t do anything from the kindness of your heart anymore! We’re just kidding, of course, £10 or more will land you MAZI branded tea towel, £15 for a tote bag, while £70 will see one of MAZI’s seasonal recipe kits delivered to your door, another will also be donated to a disadvantaged young person suffering food poverty in Bristol.
If you would like to learn more about The MAZI Project and its new community kitchen, and/or to donate, head here.