Asylum seekers given taxpayer-funded dance lessons and cricket coaching

Asylum seekers given taxpayer-funded dance lessons and cricket coaching

Hundreds of male asylum seekers have been given taxpayer-funded dance lessons and cricket coaching. Those housed at the Wethersfield Asylum Centre in Essex also have access to photography, art and rambling, paid for through a combination of public funds and charitable donations. The programme of activities at Britain's largest migrant camp has emerged as local residents protest against plans to expand the site from roughly 800 to approximately 1,245 occupants. The centre, situated on a former RAF airfield, is operated as a Home Office facility, and the revelations about taxpayer-backed leisure provision have added to growing community tensions in the area. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Braintree Council received £50,000 through a Home Office grant designated for local organisations to arrange activities for migrants at the site. Of that sum, £17,490 was allocated to the Catholic Church's St Vincent de Paul Society, which runs English language classes, art workshops and gardening sessions for residents. Art Refuge, which delivers dance classes titled Echoes of Home in partnership with performing arts company Atelier Armonico, was awarded £14,125. Those dance sessions are scheduled to continue until 2028. A further £10,750 went towards sports provision, while £7,650 was earmarked specifically for cricket coaching at the centre. The Ben & Jerry's UK Fund financed photography, art, and rambling activities for those living at the centre, while the Salvation Army permitted refugee charity Care4Calais to use its Braintree church premises to distribute free items to asylum seekers. Additional money has come via the National Lottery and the Essex Community Foundation, a body that distributes grants to charitable and voluntary organisations across the county. The broader funding stream supporting the centre flows from the Asylum Large Sites and Vessels Grant, a Home Office mechanism designed to help local authorities manage the additional strain placed on p