BRIGHTON Table Tennis Club has been given a national grant from Sport England to lead a flagship refugee integration project.

The scheme will expand the club’s outreach work and establish it as the major Brighton centre for the integration of marginalised groups through sport.

If successful, the project will expand to include outreach for the homeless and those with mental health issues over the next three years.

The club may also look to break down cultural barriers and prejudice faced by the traveller community.

The project, due to start in May in partnership with Brighton University, will initially involve 60 students.

In the first year it hopes to run regular refugee training sessions and to develop a network of partnerships with other table tennis clubs and schools.

The club also hopes nine refugees will be trained to become coaches or outreach volunteers themselves.

The initial plan will also involve health training for refugees and asylum seekers and the possibility of attending week-long residential training camp sessions.

Some 400 new table tennis players could be taking part in after-school sessions and holding regular tournaments with other clubs with refugee members by the end of the first 12 months.

On April 9, which is World Table Tennis Day, the club will be at the Open Market with 30 tables for shoppers to try out the sport.

Also in April the club will take tables up in the i360 to raise awareness of table tennis and the refugee crisis in Europe.

The specific date for the event has not yet been announced. Visit brightontabletennisclub.co.uk for more.