Published: Thursday 11 June 2020
This weekend marks the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tragedy.
Members of communities from across our borough, and the UK, will come together and remember 72 lives lost on 14 June 2017.
In online services together, and in private services for themselves, families will remember loved ones lost in circumstances that are too horrific to imagine.
Politicians, like myself, often say a lot at times like this – but really there is nothing I, or many of us, can say that will take the pain away. Three years might also seem like a long time to many people around the country. But to this community, and the families involved, the tragedy feels like yesterday.
This year is more difficult than ever. People cannot hug each other, cannot comfort each other, and cannot meet each other. They will have to be together online and digitally instead, and the community has once again done an incredible job, creating online events so if people cannot physically be together, they can be connected to each other.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic means we must all make sure we keep people safe and away from the virus that has claimed so many lives, and which has disproportionally affected our Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. We must stick to the rules for social distancing, however hard that may be.
Finally, although now delayed by many months, the inquiry is set to return, and this is a welcome step towards truth, and to justice. No matter your point of view, your role, or which organisation you represent now or previously, Grenfell is a tragedy that should not have happened. It is a tragedy that can never happen again.
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell
Leader, Kensington and Chelsea Council
Read more about the virtual services to mark the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tragedy.