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.

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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 public services by large-scale asylum accommodation.

Community opposition has intensified following reports that an asylum seeker from the Home Office site appeared in court after being charged with assaulting a woman at a charity shop in Braintree.

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The expansion of the centre's capacity by more than 400 additional residents has fuelled local discontent, with protests taking place against the growth of the facility.

Since 2023, the council has received more than £3.7 million to accommodate 1,078 asylum seeker beds at the site.

Those funds are intended to offset the impact of the increased local population and may be spent on community amenities rather than directly on the camp or its residents.

A council spokesman said "there is no intention to provide any further funding" on top of the Home Office grant.

They said: "In Spring 2024, an immediate need to support those accommodated on the site was identified. A £50,000 grant scheme was launched from ringfenced Home Office funds, providing activities for a strictly limited period until the site operator put in place sufficient arrangements.As this has been the case since summer 2024, there is no intention to provide any further funding.

"Details of how the £50,000 was allocated are available in the published delegated decision. This funding came from the Large Sites and Vessels Grant, which must be used to address pressures on local services associated with the asylum accommodation to support the outcomes of the large sites programme.

"In particular, this relates to the provision of statutory services provided by Braintree District Council and Essex County Council. Any non-statutory funding uses, such as this community grant, must be approved by the Home Office. We remain firmly of the view that this disused airbase, in a very rural area, does not have the infrastructure to support a site of this scale.

"For clarity, the activities funded through this scheme took place on the site itself rather than in the wider community and Braintree District Council has not funded offsite activities."

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