Beckingham Camp, Lincolnshire
Beckingham Rangers Training Camp on Woodgate Lane, Beckingham (LN5 0RL), is a Ministry of Defence training site. LincsOnline reported in December 2024 that it was to be used as a Reception, Staging and Onward Movement (RSOM) site for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), for up to 200 Afghan citizens at a time staying around six to eight weeks. That is a planned capacity, not a headcount. This is Afghan resettlement, not asylum accommodation: the people it was planned to house are not asylum seekers[1][2]Press.
Background
Beckingham Camp is a long-standing MoD training estate in south Lincolnshire, on Woodgate Lane near the village of Beckingham. In December 2024 North Kesteven District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence set out to residents a plan to use the site as a Reception, Staging and Onward Movement (RSOM) facility for ARAP eligible Afghan citizens[1]Press.
ARAP scheme distinction
The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy is a Ministry of Defence run resettlement scheme for Afghan citizens who worked with or alongside UK forces in Afghanistan, together with their partners and dependent children. ARAP is funded from the Treasury reserve and the Home Office, but is operationally distinct from the Home Office asylum accommodation and dispersal regime. LincsOnline records officials at the Beckingham public meeting stressing that those housed at the camp are not asylum seekers in the dispersal sense[2]Press.
Community engagement
The first major public meeting on the Beckingham Rangers proposal was reported by LincsOnline as feisty, with North Kesteven and Lincolnshire County Council representatives answering residents on the ARAP scheme, transport, school place pressure and policing[1]Press.
Cost note: not counted as an asylum cost
ARAP RSOM accommodation is funded from the Treasury reserve and Home Office contributions and is separate from the asylum hotel programme, so no cost is estimated for it here and none is counted in any asylum capacity, cost or total on this website.
Timeline
Timeline
Pre-2024
Operates as an MoD training estate at Beckingham, south Lincolnshire
Dec 2024
Public meeting at Beckingham Rangers Training Camp
North Kesteven, Lincolnshire County Council and Home Office officials set out the ARAP RSOM plans for up to 200 people at a time, on stays of six to eight weeks.
After Jul 2025
No site-specific report
We have found no source since July 2025 that names the site or says whether it is still in use.
Sources
- Public meeting reveals plans for Beckingham Rangers Training Camp Afghan accommodation · LincsOnline (Sleaford), Dec 2024
LincsOnline reports a public meeting where North Kesteven District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, the Home Office and the MoD set out plans for Beckingham Rangers Training Camp to be used as a Reception, Staging and Onward Movement (RSOM) site for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) for up to 200 Afghan citizens at a time.
- The people coming to this new site are not asylum seekers · LincsOnline (Sleaford), Dec 2024
LincsOnline reports officials told residents that those housed at Beckingham Rangers Training Camp would be ARAP eligible Afghan citizens who supported UK Armed Forces, not asylum seekers under the Home Office dispersal regime, with stays of around six to eight weeks per cohort.