Manchester bomb families to each receive £250,000
BEREAVED families of the Manchester suicide bomb victims will be given £250,000 each thanks to a huge public fundraising effort.
In total, 22 adults and children were killed when terrorist Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb packed with nails and bolts outside the Manchester Arena where a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande had just finished.
Since the devastation on May 22 which also injured 116 people, the “We Love Manchester Emergency Fund” has raised an astonishing £18million.
Grande headlined a benefit concert in June which raised more than £2million in ticket sales alone.
Another £2million was reportedly donated during the concert.
Those bereaved have already been able to claim £70,000 with no conditions on how they spend the money.
And yesterday, the fund’s trustees announced that families are now eligible for £180,000 more.
The latest round of payments will mean more than half of the £18million will have been distributed, including £3.5million to those injured.
The fund has also provided access to free financial counselling for the bereaved families.
Councillor Sue Murphy, chair of the trustees of the fund, said they will next decide how and when to distribute the rest of the money.
She said: “The city and the world responded with such extreme kindness, generosity and solidarity in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack.
“Thanks to this we have raised more than £18million.
“We were conscious that we had to get some swiftly to those with immediate needs. We have, therefore, given around a third of the total to the bereaved families and £3.5million to those who were hospitalised after the attack.
“In total, this means we have allocated over half of the existing money already. We will now spend some time looking at how we will distribute the rest of the funds.
“This will be a complex and sensitive process as we will need to assess the long-term impacts of the attack.”