Remember Grenfell

Monday 14th June is the 4th anniversary of the Grenfell fire atrocity. 

To mark it, churches around London will ring their bells 72 times at 6pm. 

Local activists are organising a commemoration and have asked Tower Hamlets and the City NEU to publicise this local event:

“St John’s in Bethnal Green (right next to the tube station) will be taking part, with the support of Reverend Alan Green (cc’d).  We want as many local people as possible to get involved, to mark the day.

While remembering those who died and their families, we also want to highlight the underlying causes of the Grenfell fire, which are still with us.  We had a recent reminder of this in Tower Hamlets at New Providence Wharf and there are still hundreds of blocks, as well as schools and other public buildings, where people’s lives are at risk because of inadequate safety and the profit-driven culture of the development industry.  

So, as well as paying our respects, we want to reaffirm our commitment to justice for the Grenfell dead and survivors and to demand that all flammable cladding material is removed, as the government said it would be.  Beyond this, we need to refocus attention on the fundamental right to a good, truly affordable and safe home for all, particularly now, when the lifting of the COVID eviction ban means thousands are threatened with homelessness.  

Please come to St John’s from 5.30pm on Monday 14th June.  We will mark the ringing of the bells in silence and then discuss what we can do to stop another Grenfell.”

I’m contacting tenant groups, anti-racism campaigners and other friends.  Let me know if you’d like to know more or have ideas for other things we could do and of course, invite others who you think will be interested.  If you can help to organise this, please get in touch.