Charity Commission says £2.8m of the £18.9m collected for survivors of June blaze has been distributed to them to date

Only a fraction of the £18.9m collected for survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster has been distributed to them to date, according to data released by the Charity Commission.



The regulator said £2.8m had reached victims – less than 15% of the total raised by charities led by the Red Cross, the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation and the Evening Standard.

Acknowledging that a relatively small amount had reached survivors in the two months since the blaze, the commission said it was time to spell out how much money had been spent, and promised there would be regular updates.

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David Holdsworth, the registrar of charities in England and Wales, said: “It is unusual for us to be involved in this way as regulator, but because of the urgent need of the victims of this tragedy, and because of the great generosity of the public who have given millions to different charities, it was right that we stepped in and helped charities work together in the best interests of those affected.”

Three appeals raised the majority of the money intended for victims. An appeal by the George Osborne-edited Evening Standard raised £6.78m, while the Red Cross and the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation each raised £5.75m. Some of the money has been sent by the charities to organisations responsible for distributing funds, but only a small fraction has actually been handed out by them.

Peter Herbert, of BMELawyers4Grenfell, said: “We are appalled by the lack of transparency and accountability over funds raised so far for Grenfell survivors. The community has been making complaints for weeks about where the money has gone and until now have effectively been ignored. So far survivors have not been consulted about how they would like to see funds raised being used.



“There are blueprints which could be used for Grenfell such as the Oklahoma bombing, where survivors were consulted on a regular basis about how funds raised for them were used. By now much more money should have reached survivors and community organisations doing the work on the ground. We will be taking this up with the Charity Commission directly and requesting an urgent meeting.”

The Red Cross said: “Every penny of the £5.75m raised by the Red Cross for the London fire relief fund will go to the surviving victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster and their families.” It said funds it had raised were being distributed on its behalf by the London Emergencies Trust, which had so far handed out £551,000 in grants.

An audio recording circulating on the internet reveals that a Red Cross volunteer said survivors would probably not get any more compensation money beyond a series of relatively modest initial payments.

These payments include a £10,000 Fresh Start grant. Survivors who spent more than six hours in hospital can get a payment of £3,500 and those who lost a relative in the fire can get a payment of £20,000.



In the phone conversation between a person saying they are a survivor of the blaze and a Red Cross volunteer fielding calls on a helpline, the caller asks what is happening to all the millions of pounds raised.

The volunteer explains about the initial Fresh Start payments and the survivor asks: “They have these amounts that are set amounts. What about the rest?”

“What do you mean by the rest?” asks the volunteer.

“They have these amounts that are set amounts and then they are not going to get no more?” asks the survivor.

“Probably not, no,” replies the Red Cross volunteer.

The survivor becomes angry and the Red Cross volunteer says: “I’m going to end this call now,” and puts the phone down.

The Red Cross said the recording was genuine, and said it was reviewing the information provided to callers. “The distribution of funds raised following the Grenfell Tower fire is complicated and while we try to provide clarity to all callers, we are sorry that on this occasion that wasn’t provided.”

About 80 people are believed to have died in the Grenfell fire in west London on 14 June.

Thousands of people have been visited by healthcare professionals in the aftermath of the fire to determine if they need help from the NHS, and about 600 people, including 100 children from the Grenfell tower neighbourhood, have been referred to mental health services, new figures showed.



The Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust said referrals for specialist assessments were also made as a result of GP appointments and calls made to a specialist hotline.



The Curve community centre has also been operating a walk-in service for those living in the neighbourhood, from which referrals have been made.



A spokesman for the NHS trust, which provides mental health services across parts of the capital, said staff had knocked on 2,200 doors in the west London neighbourhood. Around 2,000 people have been seen face to face either by NHS staff or those working at the walk-in centre, he said.

Two original panel members of the government’s child abuse inquiry had earlier warned potential members of any Grenfell inquiry being assembled at the orders of the prime minister that they were forced to fight against political control and interference from the Home Office when it was run by Theresa May.



Sharon Evans and Graham Wilmer revealed that government officials had intervened with the independent panel members by preparing a 23-page document instructing them how to answer questions from MPs. Both left the inquiry when the original panel was disbanded within months of its formation and have since been critical of the inquiry.

They said they wanted to warn relatives, victims or other laypeople co-opted on to the upcoming inquiries about the tendency of May and her team to seek close control over such processes.



“We wanted openness, and she broke every single promise made to us,” said Evans, who runs the Dot Com children’s charity. “The top promise was that it was going to be an independent and open inquiry. And it’s been neither.”

