A SOUND engineer who was locked up in Dungavel has launched a UK-wide drive to take asylum seekers to gigs, football matches and the ballet.

Robert Makutsa has worked with everyone from Wet Wet Wet to Glasgow School of Art but says those living on the margins are cut out of the arts and sport. Now he’s working with big-name promoters and venues to open up access for asylum seekers, refugees and others.

Fanzclub provides free tickets to cinema screenings, live music and theatre for marginalised people, including asylum seekers and refugees. Fanzclub recently took funk fans to see the Average White Band at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and will this week head to see The Human League at the Hydro. Tickets for that gig cost around £35 – almost the same as an asylum seeker’s entire weekly living allowance of £39.63.

This summer, he’ll take 50 people to experience an open-air festival at Doune the Rabbit Hole, near Stirling.

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Makutsa, who has lived in Scotland for more than a decade, says the country “has something for everyone”, from dimly-lit pub gigs to sports contests. But those living on the margins are priced-out and excluded from arts and sport.

He’s now teamed up with Regular Music, the Tramway and other venues and promoters to open up access across Scotland and beyond. Referrals have come in from UK cities including Birmingham. He told The National: “This is something that is across the board. A lot of organisations are trying to extend their reach, but they don’t know how or they don’t know how to make connections with marginalised groups. These audiences are there and we know how to reach them.”

The organisation was borne out of Makutsa’s personal and professional experience, as well as his volunteer work with Glasgow’s Unity Centre, which supports asylum seekers and refugees. He began by paying for a friend’s child to attend their school pantomime, but realised many other people were also unable to join in with their peers. He said: “I started by paying out of my own pocket and am still doing that, but we are also working with promoters and venues and with grants.

“People who are asylum seekers are future audiences or artists – or future MPs. When that day comes, we will ask ourselves why we didn’t do this earlier.”

Kenya-born Makutsa’s life was plunged into turmoil when he was detained by the Home Office in 2017 after it ruled he had overstayed his permissions. He was first to Dungavel then to Colnbrook in England and was forced to cancel his wedding as he fought for the right to remain in the UK. Scotland’s musicians and music promoters campaigned for his release and, four year later, he is married with a 14-month-old daughter. Fanzclub is about showing people “there is hope for what you want to be”, he says.

For more, visit www.fanzclub.org