Free football tickets, university courses, driving lessons and even hair extensions: The astonishing list of perks taxpayers are funding for asylum seekers

22 comments

1. UK is a soft touch

2. “They don’t integrate into our culture”

   How about we take them to watch our national sport or get them ready to work.

   “Not like that! MORE HATE! HATE HATE HATE!”

3. Discounted days out on a dinghy..

4. Surprise susprise that the Daily Mail chooses to frame it this way…

   So, if you actually read the article and not the headline, what they are talking about is mostly things that charities offer, or that is offered to anyone on certain low incomes, and some government funding goes to those charities or schemes via local councils.

   But I guess it is easier to get people angry by saying that “the taxpayer is funding hair extensions” than to say that “people being treated for alopecia or suffering hair loss due to chemotherapy, who have low incomes, can be eligible for a wig or hair extensions through the NHS, and some of those people are asylum seekers”.

5. [deleted]

6. The headline really exaggerates what the actual article says, id definitely recommend reading it before blowing up opinions

7. This is so untrue it’s laughable, people will really believe anything

8. >Asylum seekers are given housing, for example, and food – both provided directly by the state.

   This is by standard, the same as pretty much any country, the question is the hotel compared to a camp, both are housing.

   >Then there is a network of charities providing a range of benefits, many funded through grants from central government. This week, the absurdity of the system was laid bare as it was revealed that many of those who have come to Britain in small boats are being offered discounted days out on a dinghy.

   So it isn’t the government directly, but instead charities? Love the headline.

   The grants are given based on project work and meeting certain eligibility, these grants are widely available and it’s up to the charity to how to dedicate that money towards their project, they support a wide range of charities anything from specific illness research all the way to country wide charities.

   Edit: Also to add, these things won’t be entirely funded by grants a lot of these charities do a lot of fundraising already.

9. Any other source? Just so I might be exposed to a modicum of truth

10. [removed]

11. Each April, Amnesty’s Football Welcomes initiative creates a nationwide movement where clubs across the UK offer free match tickets, stadium tours, player visits, tournaments, and more to refugees and people seeking asylum .

    Hundreds of clubs—from Premier League to grassroots levels—participate, aiming to promote integration, belonging, and community cohesion .

    Notts County Foundation donated free tickets to asylum seekers during Football Welcomes, also launching a “Sport without Borders” physical activity program .

    Middlesbrough FC Foundation organized tournaments and offered free tickets to refugees and asylum seekers during the Football Welcomes weekend .

    Norwich City FC, in collaboration with “City of Sanctuary”, also offers free tickets on matchdays to refugees via partner charities .

    Clubs like Bath City FC have taken initiatives year-round—inviting refugee families to games with free tickets and post-match social gatherings .

    In some UK regions, asylum seekers may qualify for subsidized leisure benefits, such as heavily discounted or £1 football tickets, as part of broader social inclusion schemes.

    Birmingham City Council’s “Passport to Leisure” scheme has offered asylum seekers £1 kids’ tickets to Aston Villa matches when accompanied by a paying adult.

    Football Welcomes (April, UK-wide) Asylum seekers & refugees Free tickets and events organized by clubs and Amnesty International
    Local council leisure schemes Asylum seekers (locally based) Discounted or £1 tickets via council programs

    Yes, asylum seekers do sometimes receive football tickets—but this is typically through charity-led or council-led initiatives, rather than government law or broad public policy.

    Many of these schemes aim to foster inclusion, support wellbeing, and help with integration, not just access to football.

12. A headline to get the gammon cooking.

13. I’m fine with migrants getting to attend the odd football game. Shit, give them a scarf of t local team to wear around town. Football is a massive cultural unifier in Britain.

14. really need that ban on tabloid sites

15. Given it’s the Daily Mail I’m going to assume without reading that it’s bullshit – just saves time.

16. They are not allowed to work, obviously you either have to fund everything or allow them to make their own money 🤷🤷🤷🤷

17. >Some asylum seekers – such as those undergoing cancer treatment or with hair loss caused by alopecia – even qualify for free wigs

    Jesus fucking Christ Daily Mail, heaven forbid a cancer patient gets a wig.

18. Not giving any clicks to Daily Hate, ragebait article

19. What do MPs and billionaires get

20. Daily mail dinner bell has been rung, back to the troughs of slop reformorons

21. So fucking ridiculous, they should get a room and that’s it.

22. Every day I want a reform government, shit is ridiculous.

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