Detainees are not allowed out of Tinsley House and personal possessions within the Centre are restricted. Although visits are allowed daily, they are confined to a communal room, and are not held in private. Under Government rules, detention centres have to provide some meaningful activity. Tinsley House has library and exercise/sport facilities, optional English lessons and arts and crafts sessions, as well as the use of television and video. In reality, however, boredom and frustration often set in for longer-term detainees.
Tinsley House has a well administered and caring team of religious staff, who cater for the pastoral, spiritual and cultural needs of the detainee population. There are daily religious services and ministers from all faiths visit the centre. Many of the referrals we receive come from the religious staff. The centre has a medical centre and psychological services are provided by a visiting consultant clinical psychologist and a psychotherapist from Horsham Hospital.
At present, there are eleven main detention centres in the UK, with up to 2750 people detained at any one time. Some detention centres are for men or women only, some are mixed-sex, whilst others also accommodate families. There are various security contractors who run the centres so, as a result, staff training, official visiting hours and security measures may vary across the detention estate.
It is common for detainees to be transferred around the various detention centres throughout their period of detention, and each centre has a visitors group similar to us. All visitors groups come under an umbrella organisation called the Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID).
We dream of a brighter future
"We dream of a possible brighter future, even if this unknown future may be across oceans. We risk life and limb in order to better our lives, with the hope of one day returning to our loved ones."
John Musato, detainee held at Gatwick
