Grenfell United Shine A Condemnatory Light On The Houses Of Parliament

Harry Rosehill
By Harry Rosehill Last edited 57 months ago

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Grenfell United Shine A Condemnatory Light On The Houses Of Parliament

Campaign group Grenfell United have marked the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, by projecting condemnatory messages onto the Houses of Parliament.

The campaign started in London and elsewhere in the UK last week, with messages projected onto buildings that are still considered at risk of a similarly calamitous fire to Grenfell's. Last night, the charity and campaign group, which represents survivors and the bereaved families of Grenfell, stepped things up a gear by projecting onto the side of Parliament.

The bleak message read:

2 YEARS AFTER GRENFELL THIS BUILDING STILL HASN'T KEPT ITS PROMISES

There are numerous broken promises to which this message refers. One is that there are still residents living in temporary accommodation two years after the fire. Another is that dangerous cladding remains on many buildings across the UK.

Of last week's messages, Frinstead House is a particularly poignant tower to project a message onto, due to its proximity to Grenfell — see the photo above for proof.

This isn't just a London issue: messages have been projected in Newcastle and Manchester, highlighting other buildings on which dangerous cladding still hasn't been stripped, and in which not all fire doors are fit for purpose.

NV Buildings in Manchester

A spokesperson for Grenfell United, the bereaved families and survivors groups said:

Last week we sent a powerful message across the UK that was hard to ignore. The reaction and outpouring of support has been incredible. The truth is out there and unfortunately far worse than originally thought. We felt now was time to shine a spotlight on one more building — the Houses of Parliament.

We’ve had two years worth of promises but very little action to make sure homes are safe and people living in social housing are treated with dignity and respect. We are calling for all dangerous cladding to be replaced, for fire safety measures in all tower blocks and for a new separate housing regulator that would put people over profits.  

Cruddas Park House in Newcastle

The projections came just weeks after outgoing prime minster, Theresa May, cited setting up an independent public inquiry into Grenfell, as one of her achievements in office.

This isn't the only project Grenfell United is currently working on. It's also holding a photography exhibition at The Truman Brewery in Shoreditch 19-23 June. This emotional images shot by Tom Cockram, depict the survivors, the bereaved and the community of Grenfell in stark black and white.

Both the projected messages and this exhibition form part of Grenfell United's awareness campaign #DemandChange.

Last Updated 18 June 2019