Community centres overwhelmed with donations for people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire were on Thursday boxing up many items and sending them into storage in warehouses, depots and empty buildings.



Hundreds of volunteers spent Wednesday night sorting through clothing, bedding, shoes, toiletries, toys, food and drink, in an effort to bring some order to a chaotic situation.

People were continuing to arrive in the area of the tower fire, in west London, throughout Thursday bearing bags and boxes of gifts. Churches, community centres and sports facilities which had been receiving donations the day before had to turn them away. Community leaders expressed gratitude at people’s generosity but said they were struggling to cope with the volume of donations.

At an open area under the Westway flyover, in north Kensington, David Peters, a volunteer, said storage space was desperately needed. “We’ve spent all night sorting stuff into labelled boxes, and now we’re loading the boxes on to vans, but the vans have nowhere to go. There are five full vans awaiting instructions,” he said.

Volunteers in London form chains to handle supplies for those affected by the tower block disaster. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

Nearby, at the Westway sports centre, an “army of volunteers” was sorting clothes “covering the equivalent of a small football pitch”, according to Will Hoyles, of the Westway Trust. “We’ve been completely overwhelmed by people’s generosity. But we’ve had to ask people not to bring any more donations.”

He though that most of the items would be useful at some point. “But the sheer volume of it is difficult. Once we’ve sorted it out we’ll have a better idea of what the gaps are.”

Identifying immediate needs was a crucial task. “We had someone come in, desperate for a pram. We put out an appeal on Twitter and had one within an hour,” said Hoyles.

The trust was trying to find warehouse space, he added. “At the moment, what we really need is cash donations and cardboard or plastic boxes.” He urged people to support the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation appeal.



The Latymer community church was also turning away donations. “We’re very grateful for the generosity, but we need a breathing space,” said a volunteer on the door. The centre had set up an appeal for cash donations.

Donations at Westway sports centre for people made homeless after the inferno. Photograph: Paul Davey/Barcroft Images

Father Alan Everett, the vicar of St Clements, said Tuesday had been a day of crisis management. “Now we are moving into a phase of dealing with an increasing number of people in acute distress as more news comes through. We need to set aside space in the church where people can be supported. We also want to return the church to being a place of prayer and reflection.”

Lady, a volunteer at the church entrance living near Grenfell Tower, said some people were angry when told their donations could not be accepted. “People want to help and some don’t understand why we can’t take their stuff,” she said.

Calvin Edwards had brought three bags containing clothes, underwear and trainers he no longer needed, from Barnet, north London to the Westway sports centre. He said his donation had already been refused by two other centres. “I don’t think they should be refusing donations. If people don’t need it now they’ll need it next week.”

Among the gifts were dozens of boxes of cakes and loose-leaf tea sent by Harrods in a liveried green van. On Wednesday, an executive from Pizza Express offered to deliver “hundreds and hundreds of pizzas” to St Clements church.

Some community centres said Kensington and Chelsea council was taking charge of locating storage space for donated goods, although a spokesperson could not confirm that.

Shepherds Bush market, nearby, offered to store items in vacant railway arches and 100 shipping containers awaiting transformation into a pop-up street food market. “They’re doing nothing at the moment, just gathering dust. We can easily help out,” said Andrew Sparrow, of WMC Retail.