Celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott has teamed up with Dame Kelly Holmes’ ‘On Camp with Kelly’ initiative supported by Aviva to educate athletes and young people attending university about the importance of good nutrition for physical and mental performance. 

To help the commonly known ‘Pot Noodle generation’, Ainsley was at University College Birmingham on Saturday 10 October taking 42 ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes through cooking demonstrations and providing recipes to cook quick, cheap and healthy dishes.  The aim of the ‘Eat for Success’ Get-Together was to give the athletes a better understanding of how to cook nutritious meals, enabling them to refuel properly after training and competition.  Ainsley also taught the athletes essential practical cooking skills to help them through their student life.

The athletes then underwent their own challenge by each preparing and cooking four of the dishes that Ainsley had demonstrated – Bolognese sauce, fish pie, spiced chicken with raita couscous and energy bars.

Dame Kelly says: "Over the past six years of running my 'On Camp with Kelly' initiative, I have become aware of the issues faced by talented athletes who go away to university with limited cooking skills and insufficient knowledge of preparing nutritious meals on a budget, which ultimately is detrimental to their health and performance as sports people.

"For that reason I decided to host the ‘Eat for Success’ Get-Together, supported by Aviva, where the 'On Camp with Kelly' athletes will not only benefit now but gain valuable life skills for the future.  I am delighted to have the assistance of Ainsley Harriott in this, whom I am sure will pass on the best skills in a simple effective energetic way, as well as to have the use of the excellent facilities at University College Birmingham.”

Ainsley adds: “Cooking nutritious and tasty meals doesn’t need to cost the earth and can be done without dramatically altering students’ busy social and sporting schedules. I am really pleased to be involved in educating the athletes on the ‘On Camp with Kelly’ initiative, supported by Aviva, as I feel a few simple food preparation skills and quick and easy recipes can transform students’ relationship with food and provide essential nutritional information which often can be forgotten when young people flee the nest.”

Sue Helmont, Head of Advertising & Media at Aviva Life Insurance, said: “We are proud to support these young athletes and believe it’s important for young people to understand the importance of good nutrition and how detrimental it can be to their health if neglected. We are thrilled that Ainsley Harriott has teamed up with Kelly Holmes for this unique educational experience and look forward to seeing the positive impact on our next generation of British medal winners.”

Click here to visit our 'Eat for Success page and download Ainsley's recipes!

‘On Camp with Kelly’ would like to thank Sainsbury's Active Kids and the Oldbury store for supplying the ingredients for the ‘Eat for Success’ Get-Together.
Click here for more information about Sainsbury's Active Kids.