Two months on the bulk of cash raised hasn't reached those who suffered most
Just 15% of cash raised for victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze has made its way to survivors, the charity Commission has said.
Two months after the deadly blaze, the regulator said that of the £18.9m donated to survivors in the wake of the tragedy on 14 June, £2.8m – or 15% of the total raised – has been spent so far.
Last month TFN reported concerns from the British Red Cross that the bulk of cash raised wasn’t reaching those it was intended for.
Part of the problem has been the number of charities involved in raising cash with no one body co-ordinating the response.
It means those eligible for support have to navigate a plethora of different applications from different sources meaning many potentially miss out on vital help.
David Holdsworth, the Charity Commission’s chief operating officer, said it was working to help charities coordinate their response so that the community knew where to access funds.
He 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.”
Of the £5.7m raised by the Red Cross, £2.4m has been passed on so far to those on the ground.
The assumption is made that this community needs to be managed, because "we know better" - Moyra Samuels
The Kensington and Chelsea Foundation (KCF) has raised the same amount and £2.1m has been sent to distributing organisations.
Moyra Samuels, campaign coordinator for Justice4Grenfell, said there was a feeling on the ground the fundraising process had been “hijacked” by “bureaucratic bodies”.
“There are a lot of assumptions being made, based on feelings of deep mistrust, that the funds are going to be used by authorities to fund operations rather than going to the survivors,” she said.
“Transparency is what people are worried about in a situation where the community is already feeling incredibly angry let down and frustrated and also there is a feeling that yet again the assumption is made that this community needs to be managed, because ‘we know better’.”
