Grenfell…One year on
A ceremony was held on 14th June to mark the one-year anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire. Survivors and bereaved relatives came together on the streets surrounding Grenfell to remember the tragedy which claimed 72 lives.
Many of the crowd were dressed in green which is the colour that has come to symbolise the tragedy and a minute’s silence was held across the nation as a mark of respect.
The ceremony in North Kensington began with a voiceover saying: “Seventy-two people lost their lives who were our family, friends and community. We gather here today to remember them.” The names of all the victims were then read out by different members of the community.
The skeleton of the Grenfell tower is still fenced off and covered in white scaffolding 12 months after the event. The walls around the area are now covered in handwritten tributes to the victims.
The anniversary comes shortly after Dame Judith Hackitt announced her review into fire safety and building regulations.
The Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety was announced by the UK government in July 2017 with Dame Judith Hackitt appointed to lead it. The purpose of the report was to make recommendations that will ensure a sufficiently robust regulatory system for the future and to make residents feel that the buildings they live in are safe and remain so.
The report found that the current system of building regulations and fire safety is not fit for purpose and that a culture change is required to support the delivery of buildings that are safe, both now and in the future. This prompted Dame Hackitt to recommend that a new regulatory framework is introduced which will address the weaknesses in the current system.
The new framework is designed to achieve three main results: create a more simple and effective mechanism for driving building safety, provide stronger oversight of dutyholders with incentives for the right behaviours and reassert the role of residents.
The public inquiry into the tragedy will continue after this week’s commemorations have ended.
