14 June 2022 sees the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, and is set to be marked by Grenfell United – a group made up of survivors and bereaved from the 72 people who died in the fire – with a Silent Walk. Meanwhile, reporters, observers and the Mayor of London call for further change to building safety from the Government.
The group is inviting members of the community and anyone who would like to join to take part in Silent Walk, as “the community continues to heal and fight for justice”.
The Walk will begin at Notting Hill Methodist Church at 18:00, and participants are being asked to wear something green to show support. You can find out more by following #grenfellsilentwalk or @grenfellunited on Twitter.
Prior to the Walk, a multi-faith memorial service will take place at the base of Grenfell Tower to remember the 72 who lost their lives, starting at 16:00.
In the days running up to the anniversary, The Guardian spoke to survivors of the fire, to find out how they are continuing to fight to honour the victims and about their long battles to regain some kind of normality, while on Sunday 12 June Mayor of London Sadiq Khan outlined his fears of another “Grenfell Tower disaster”. Writing for The Guardian, Khan called on the Government to learn the lessons and boost safety measures, arguing that “action and change at a national level has been conspicuous by its absence”, with “too many residents in London and across the country living in high-rise buildings that are covered in dangerous flammable cladding”.
Inside Housing’s Peter Apps, who has been following the ongoing inquiry closely, notes that “many of the defects which led to the Grenfell fire still exist in other buildings” and that fire strategies have not shifted sufficiently – tactics “that came apart with devastating consequences” in 2017. The BBC has also explored the ‘Stay put’ strategy, while experts at the Tall Buildings Fire Safety Conference discussed the merits and reasons behind the stay put policy, in May.
Channel 4 has commemorated the anniversary by airing the not-for-profit play ‘Grenfell: Value Engineering – Scenes from the Inquiry’, which first ran on stage in Notting last year. The production, called ‘Grenfell’ on Channel 4, is a dramatisation of verbatim excerpts from the ongoing Inquiry.
The Fire Brigades Union has announced it will show its support, with local firefighters – some of whom responded to the fire themselves five years ago – set to form a guard of honour for the community.
Pete Wolfenden, a firefighter who responded to the Grenfell Tower fire, said: “It’s been five years since the Grenfell Tower fire and the thoughts and wishes go out from all London firefighters and fire control staff personnel to the survivors and friends and family of those who lost their lives in this appalling incident, the worst domestic blaze in living memory.
“We also remember the brave and courageous members of all the emergency services who attended on the night and subsequent days, some of whom still suffer ill health and bear the mental scars of attending that traumatic incident.”
The Union has also recently announced that firefighter numbers have been cut since the event. 221 positions (including fire control staff) have been cut since 2017, according to the Union, which it has condemned and says “represents a failure to change”.
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