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A Liberal Democrat-run council is offering asylum seekers free gym and swimming sessions as well as exercise classes which residents have to pay £52.50-a-month for.
Richmond Council is offering ‘sanctuary seekers’ free access to indoor swimming, group exercise classes and gym sessions at five fitness centres in the London borough.
Meanwhile, working residents must fork out £52.50-a-month if they want to access these services, while those on benefits and disability allowance pay £30 per month.
According to the council’s website, the Richmond Card also offers a range of local discounts, including deals on pilates classes, restaurant meals, and language lessons in French and Spanish.
Other offers include 25 per cent off at a children’s clothing store in Twickenham and half-price nutrition consultations at a local health centre.
Richmond is not the only borough offering subsidised access to leisure facilities for migrants.
Teddington Sports Centre in Richmond in southeast London which is covered under the scheme
Migrants being escorted into Dover after crossing the channel on a boat
Anti-migrant protesters hold up signs outside an asylums seeker hotel in Epping
Letters from the Home Office and asylum applications can be used as proof of eligibility, as reported by Guido Fawkes.
Meanwhile, Kingston Council provides half-price access to badminton, squash, tennis, and group fitness classes under its ‘Active Kingston’ scheme, which is open to asylum seekers, care workers, people on benefits, and pensioners.
A spokesman for Richmond council told The Times it is committed to creating ‘supportive and inclusive environments for sanctuary seekers, offering a range of services to enable their integration into local communities’
It comes as ministers are drawing up plans to prevent migrants from turning down alternative housing without a valid reason.
A ‘Failure to Travel’ policy will mean that illegal migrants moved from hotels to other ‘suitable’ accommodation must accept the offer.
Those who refuse could lose their housing and support, according to the Home Office.
It is understood that roughly 100 asylum seekers are currently refusing relocation each week.
Under the previous Conservative government, migrants who declined to board the Bibby Stockholm barge were warned they could lose access to housing and benefits.
The Daily Mail has approached Richmond Council for comment.
It comes as more than 20,000 small boat migrants have arrived in Britain since the start of the year, highlighting concerns over Labour’s handling of border control.
In previous years, including 2022, which ended with a record 45,700 arrivals, the 20,000 mark was not reached until mid to late August.
Since the start of the Channel crisis in 2018, more than 170,000 migrants have reached Britain by small boat – but only about four per cent have been removed.
It comes amid a wave of anti-migrant protests sweeping across the country after demonstrations first flared up outside The Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex, following an Ethiopian asylum seeker being charged with sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.
As previously reported, this has sparked fears that Britain could face another summer of disorder after last year’s Southport murders.
