The stories of three people directly affected by the devastating Grenfell Tower Fire, which shook the world on June 14, 2017
Helena Thompson is the founder and artistic director of SPID Theatre, who have been based on the Kensal House Estate close to Grenfell in North Kensington since 2005. The work of this small charity is now helping to give the traumatised community hope
“I was out of the country when [the fire] happened. I watched the news on TV and received lots of messages on my phone. Seeing something of this scale on the screen moves you, in the same way that seeing a well-honed drama moves you, except much more because this was real. I felt the horror of it profoundly. I also felt, knowing the area and the concerns of its residents as I do, that it was inevitable. Kensal always has floods, Grenfell and Trellick towers always had fires. It was just a matter of time before a major catastrophe hit one of them. Social housing tenants call for better safety and maintenance but no one listens. You feel disempowered and less important than the many wealthy people who live in the borough.
We knew it was coming, but no one could have envisaged the sheer scale of it. Everyone was just numb with shock. I know what PTSD looks like—social housing tenants have hard lives—and there was a lot more of that after the fire. The atmosphere afterwards, however, was one of extreme dignity and love—the real sadness came later, when the shock had subsided. Survivors used our theatre building for all the things they would normally do: childrens’ after-school clubs, birthday parties and residents’ meetings.
Bu hikaye Reader's Digest UK dergisinin June 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Reader's Digest UK dergisinin June 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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