Grenfell - Forever In Our Hearts

by Godiva

On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London caught on fire. It was reported that it started from an overheated Hotpoint fridge in the kitchen of a flat on the 16th floor. The fatal blaze caused the tragic death of 74 residents. 223 residents were able to escape but authorities and the public believe that the death toll from Grenfell is much more than 120 due to the high number of residents in the building still recorded as missing.

Grenfell residents, family members and friends of survivors have called on the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea to admit their faults for the blaze. Prior to the fire, residents had been complaining about how safe the cladding on the tower block building really was as well as the fire safety standards of the block. The tower was built in the 1970s, but recently renovated. Panels made from plastic and aluminum were attached to the tower block, the public inquiry for the fire released information that this specific type of cladding was not put through relevant testing by the manufacturer. They cladding was not tested fully to meet the safety regulations including testing a full scale model of the tower block at Grenfell.

The north Kensington community to current day, still feel let down by their local council as well as by the conservative government who did not supply survivors with emergency, immediate shelter, food or care to over 230 people who managed to escape their burning homes, survivors and residents had to document the names of those who survived as well as the names of the dead bodies identified.

Council leaders and members of parliament were said to be completely unseen after doing a few interviews near the Grenfell tower after the fatal fire took place.

The local community came together and helped survivors with donations, clothes, blankets, as well food and drink. Members of the community opened up community spaces as temporary homes for survivors to sleep in - by the third day following the fire the government hadn't put in any direct action to help the victims, they were not treating the tragedy as an emergency even though the entire country knew about it, there were lots of people from all over England visited north Kensington to “do their part’ to help people.

Four days after the fire, Theresa May, the Prime Minister at the time, released a statement admitting to the clear facts ; the survivors of Grenfell did not receive any help from the government, whether it was them finding where their next meal was going to come from- that help all came from the community where lots of local townspeople delivered boxes of food and water. From the help of social media, Theresa May, in her statement acknowledged that there was not enough information given to residents and survivors about why their homes were destroyed (most people would've known deep down that the cladding had a huge part to play for the blaze from previous complaints to the council that were ignored).

Ultimately, I feel that the whole nation can agree that the Grenfell victims and survivors deserved so much better, the victims of the fire deserved to be heard before the tragedy as well as afterwards. It is reported that the Grenfell was largely occupied by people from lower socio economic backgrounds, many who were Black, ethnic and of Asian backgrounds.

Grenfell has shaped my own personal view on how those in charge do not seem prioritise people who are less well off as well as people who are of non-caucasian backgrounds. For me, it was really touching to see - through social media - how the North Kensington community came together to lean on one another, even in upsetting, distressing times the scenes were humbling. It also made me feel like everyone in this country became closer as watching the news, I saw lots of people of all ages from different backgrounds visiting the affected area just to help. Renowned celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, sent a message on social media expressing his sorrow and offered free food and drinks in his restaurant for survivors. This was very kind and made lots of people smile for the care shown.

Nearly five years later, the outcome of the devastating tragedy has evoked questions by people like myself and many members of the public on how safe tower blocks are for people to live in. Since the Grenfell fire, almost 1,150 buildings in London now have fire safety issues. North Kensington has lots of run-down council blocks sitting side by side with multimillion-pound mansions. The fire in the tower was one of the UK's worst modern disasters so does housing only matter when rich people are the main focus?