Transforming Young Lives With Empire Fighting Chance
To celebrate the launch of Inner Strength, our limited edition winter espresso supporting incredible local partners like Empire Fighting Chance, we sat down with Emily Haberfield, their Head of Fundraising, to chat about non-contact boxing, mental health, and why real strength always starts from within.
Earlier this year, a few of us were lucky enough to pop by Empire for a team building day. Feeling the energy in that room and the real, ground-level impact they have on young people in our community was something we won't forget anytime soon.
For anyone who hasn't heard of Empire Fighting Chance, how would you sum up what you’re all about?
We're a Bristol based charity that helps young people fight for better futures across the UK.
People often know us for boxing, but we're about much more than sport. We use non-contact boxing as a way to engage young people who might be struggling with their mental health, facing adversity, or feeling disconnected from education and support services.
What sits behind that is a psychologically informed approach that helps young people understand themselves, build healthy relationships, process difficult experiences and develop the confidence to move forward. Boxing gets them through the door. The real work is helping them realise their potential.
You pair non-contact boxing with one-on-one mentoring and mental health support. What is it about getting into the ring that helps young people open up?
Many of the young people we work with have learned not to trust adults, services or systems. Walking into a room and being asked how they're feeling isn't always going to work.
Boxing creates a different starting point. It's active, challenging and non-judgemental. While young people are learning skills, moving their bodies and building confidence, our coaches are building relationships.
What's important is that everything is underpinned by psychology. Our coaches understand trauma, attachment and behaviour, and how experiences shape the way young people see themselves and the world around them. The boxing gives us a shared language and a trusted relationship. Once that's there, conversations that might never have happened elsewhere begin to happen naturally.
What are the biggest challenges right now when it comes to supporting young people?
The needs we're seeing are becoming more complex.
Many young people are navigating poor mental health, the impact of poverty, social isolation, exploitation and uncertainty about their future. For some, these challenges don't exist in isolation. They stack up on top of one another.
One of the biggest challenges is that support often arrives too late, after a young person has already reached crisis point. We believe in getting alongside young people earlier and building the relationships that help prevent problems escalating.
That's why psychologically informed, long-term support matters. Young people don't need another person telling them what to do. They need trusted adults who can help them understand what's happened to them, recognise their strengths and see a future worth fighting for.
Outside of making a donation, what’s one easy way our readers can back the work you’re doing?
Help us change the story.
Too often young people get labelled by the challenges they're facing rather than recognised for their potential. Whether it's sharing our work, talking about the issues affecting young people, volunteering your skills or simply following our journey, awareness genuinely matters.
Every new conversation helps more people understand that behind difficult behaviour is often a young person dealing with difficult experiences. The more people who understand that, the more opportunities we can create for young people to thrive.
If you could grab a coffee with literally anyone, past or present, who are you inviting and what are you asking them?
Muhammad Ali.
Not just because he was one of the greatest boxers of all time, but because he understood people. He knew that real strength wasn't about throwing punches. It was about courage, identity, purpose and standing up for what you believe in.
Over a coffee, we'd ask him: "How do you help someone believe in themselves when life has spent years telling them they can't?"
Because that's the challenge at the heart of our work every day. And when a young person starts believing they're capable of more, that's often the moment everything changes.
Want to find out more about the incredible work Empire Fighting Chance is doing? Head to