Grenfell survivors embrace firefighters at emotional anniversary march

Tearful demonstrators were seen embracing London’s firefighters during a Grenfell anniversary march on Sunday evening.Grenfell bereaved and survivors gathered together, nine years on from the fatal fire, for the final anniversary before the tower block is completely demolished.Around 1,500 people, many dressed in green, were seen walking together in silence.

A sea of signs reading “this much evidence, still no charges” and “enough is enough”, as well as green hearts and balloons, could be seen as the demonstrators walked, with Green Party leader Zack Polanski joining the march.As the march reached Ladbroke Grove, personnel from London Fire Brigade lined the road and people, some with tears in their eyes, could be seen hugging and shaking hands with them.Grenfell United, which represents many of the bereaved and survivors, said the walk was “in solidarity to remember those we lost, and demand justice”, noting that it is “the last anniversary with any part of Grenfell Tower remaining”.

open image in galleryZack Polanski attended the march (PA)It said: “In the aftermath of Grenfell, governments stood before the country and promised that lessons would be learned, accountability would follow and no community would ever again experience such a preventable tragedy.“Yet nine years on, too many promises remain unfulfilled.“Governments have changed, ministers have come and gone but the urgency and meaningful action survivors and bereaved families were promised have too often failed to materialise.

“Most painful of all is the continued delay to criminal justice. Nine years is an unbearable amount of time for bereaved families, survivors and residents to wait for accountability.“Justice delayed is justice denied, and the slow pace of progress continues to deepen the pain of a community still waiting for answers and action.”

Police and prosecutors announced last month that up to 20 companies and 57 individuals could face criminal charges over the blaze.Decisions will be made on whether any charges will be brought before next year’s 10th anniversary, the Metropolitan Police said.Potential offences under consideration include corporate gross negligence manslaughter, fraud, health and safety breaches, and misconduct in public office.

During a memorial service at Notting Hill Methodist Church earlier on Sunday, messages from the mother of Italian architect Gloria Trevisan and the father of her boyfriend Marco Gottardi were read.Ms Trevisan, 26, was trapped on the top floor of the high-rise with Mr Gottardi, 27.open image in galleryMany of the demonstrators wore green (Reuters)Her mother Emanuela Disaro wrote in her message “we will never be able to forgive those who through greed, dishonesty and personal interest allowed themselves to be corrupted” at the expense of their lives and the 70 others.

She added: “It’s too long to get justice and when it happens, if it happens, it will always be too late.“It hurts us to know that those people continue to live their lives undisturbed and unpunished.”Mr Gottardi’s father said in his message, which was read at the service: “We would have liked a different story, you returned home having fulfilled your dreams, your love, your family and your work.

“All of this was denied you by human greed. The constant pursuit of greater profit, putting the lives of so many people at risk.”He called for prosecutors to “speed up” bringing any perpetrators to justice, adding: “Prosecute them and impose appropriate penalties and we ask the perpetrators to apologise”.

The blaze in June 2017 was found by a public inquiry to have been avoidable, having been preceded by “decades of failure” by governments and the building industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.The inquiry’s final report in 2024 found victims, the bereaved and survivors were “badly failed” through incompetence, dishonesty and greed, with the tower block covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms which made and sold the cladding and insulation.open image in galleryThe families of the Grenfell victims demanded justice at the march (PA)Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick condemned the “deliberate and sustained” manipulation of fire safety testing, misrepresentation of test data and misleading of the market.

Speaking from outside the service on Sunday, Pat, a local resident and volunteer for the Grenfell Memorial Quilt, told the Press Association that following the tragedy “everyone opened their hearts and their homes and looked after each other”.“They came with food, they came with clothes and all of the necessities – because people lost everything,” she said.“They could never go back into that place and pick up the things they loved – their photographs, their teddies, their passports – they had nothing.

“It was terrible and they will never forget it. It will always be with them, it will never go away.”