Yarl's Wood residents to run a virtual marathon

Fifteen men currently detained at an immigration centre are planning to run a "virtual marathon".

The residents at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire, have been granted permission by Serco, the company that runs the facility, to use a treadmill in the gym for the sponsored race.

A resident called M, which is not his real name, came up with the idea and said: "We wanted to physically challenge ourselves."

The group are raising funds for Beyond Detention, a charity in Bedford that M said had provided emotional support to the men.

The charity said Serco will record the distance, with each man expected to run between 5k (3.10 miles) or 10k (6.2 miles).

Sam Price, Beyond Detention's chief executive officer, said: "The men and woman detained in Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre have experienced deep trauma.

"Every day can be challenging for them, so I am incredibly touched that they want to do this for our charity,” Ms Price said.

"We are all very excited about the event, as it's the first time they’ve ever done anything like this," she added.

Beyond Detention provides emotional and practical support to people detained at the facility and helps them once they are released.

Yarl's Wood is an immigration removal centre where people with disputed immigration status can be detained without a defined time limit.

The facility currently houses about 300 men and 30 women, Ms Price added.

A report published in October of an inspection by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons conducted last summer, found that safety at the centre was "no longer sufficiently good".

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