‘Grenfell proves we all help each other when a crisis occurs’
One year ago today, the Grenfell Tower fire shifted the tectonic plates of British society, triggering a national conversation about social housing. Jessica Walford profiles four Welsh Red Cross volunteers who travelled to the scene of the tragedy last ye
IT WAS a tragedy that shook the country. One year ago today, 72 people were killed at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, London after a devastating fire.
Days after disaster struck, four British Red Cross volunteers from Wales travelled up to support those affected.
They were among the first nonLondon based volunteers to respond and provided support at the assistance centre that had been set up at the Westway Sports Centre.
They met people who had been displaced, people who had lost loved ones and people from the community who rallied round to help those in need.
They all spent a week at Westway. And, following their lead, more than 40 more Red Cross volunteers from Wales travelled to London to lend a helping hand.
All were awarded the British Red Cross’ Dunant Award, the highest team honour the charity can bestow.
Here, in their own words, are their memories of that week – and how the catastrophic tragedy actually showed them the best of community spirit.
Rob Donovan, 33, is from Cardiff. He is the British Red Cross’ emergency response operations manager for Wales and he led the team of Welsh volunteers, having only been in his role for six months.
“When the fire happened, I offered to carry out a strategic management role from Cardiff,” he said. “Usually I’d expect to receive maybe eight or 10 calls, but I had more than 100 concerning Grenfell on that first day.
“It became clear that the team in London needed extra support and I offered to travel with a small group of volunteers.
“When I arrived you could immediately see the building, smell it and even taste it when the wind blew in your direction.
“There were missing people posters everywhere, with pictures of friends and relatives and telephone numbers people could call.
“That was quite a shocking thing to see. It was quite apparent, even at that point, that many of those people may never be seen again.
“At the rest centre, people were accommodated and others were coming for information about housing, healthcare and passports.
“Thanks to donations, we managed to create a space with furniture in the middle that would just make waiting a bit more comfortable but it became a sort of social space.
“You have to remember that peple were staying in hotels and wanted to spend time with their neighbours from the tower. It was great for the kids, who had a place to run around and play.
“The leisure centre environment was now a bit more homely.
“I was still very new to the Red Cross at the time. It’s weird looking back and thinking how new I was.
“I was proud of the work we did, proud of the volunteers and proud to play a role in that. It affected me for a long time afterwards, being exposed to all that grief and even just seeing the wreckage of the building.
“I was very inspired by the fact that the community came together in London and from across the country. People threw open the doors of places of worship and community centres. When a crisis happens, Grenfell proves that people will support each other.”
Lorraine Smith, 63, is a married mother of two adult sons and has four grandchildren. A retired headteacher, she was born and raised in Cardiff but now lives in Penarth.
She is a day-to-day fire service support volunteer for the Red Cross and received the award for Welsh Volunteer of the Year from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
“I’d seen the news on the TV but it was still a shock when I got there,” she said.
“The reality of the situation really sank in when you first saw the building. On the second day, we had to walk down at the bottom of the tower and that was very distressing because it was so quiet and unreal.
“There were people who were still walking around very dazed and firefighters going in and out of the building. The centre was a base because everybody was scattered around. People had been staying with friends or in hotels and there was shock and relief when they saw their neighbours and realised they had made it out of the building.
“That was quite harrowing times.
“It was Ramadan and that’s what sticks in my mind. In the evening everyone was sharing food, even though some had lost everything.”
Dem Carosi, 67, from near Swansea, is a retired window cleaner who volunteers for the Red Cross as an emergency response, hospital discharge and refugee support volunteer. He is married, has three sons and three grandchildren.
“We had to walk past the building to get to the rest centre,” he said.
“I looked at it once when I first got there and after that I didn’t want to look at it again because I didn’t want to think about what had happened. You could even smell it.
“We tried to give everybody individual attention and were trying not to be too shocked by the traumatic stories people were telling us.
“It wasn’t about me and my feelings. It was about the people affected and what they needed.
“What amazed me was the resilience of people. There were people who had lost everything and still had a smile on their face when you were helping them.”
Aimee Thomas, 23, a disaster management and emergency planning graduate from Llanfairpwll on Anglesey, had only just started working for the Red Cross as an emergency response officer when the Grenfell disaster happened.
“I got the call late on a Sunday evening to see if I was able to go help,” she said.
“I had only been in my job for two weeks but I knew I couldn’t turn the request down and I was on the train the next morning. Once I got to the centre, it was obvious what needed doing, so I got right to it.
“There was one family I kept coming in contact with. I was able to help them get all that they needed, as they had specific medical requirements that meant not all the donated items were of use to them.
“We did a lot together and each evening they would leave and thank me.
“I was there for three days. So much happened and I hadn’t had a chance to process what I had been a part of until I got on the train home and the carriage was empty and I was left alone with my thoughts.
“My initial thought was, ‘I’m on my way home where I will have my family around me.’
“All of the people I had come in contact with and helped weren’t going home.
“They had lost their home and many had lost their family too.”