The charity which has been at the forefront of the Grenfell Tower fire response effort has revealed to getwestlondon the staggering amount of donations it has received.

British Red Cross has been working closely to help those affected by the massive fire both within the Notting Hill and North Kensington area and around the country.

It says donations have outstripped need, but all items given will be ringfenced to ensure it helps those left injured, bereaved, homeless or traumatised by the disaster.

Diana Goss, business development manager for British Red Cross Retail, had earlier told the BBC that the challenge in dealing with the masses of donations is “really off the scale”.

Donations fill up the outdoor pitches at Westway Sports & Fitness Centre on the day after the Grenfell Tower fire, with the stricken building in view in the background

British Red Cross Grenfell relief effort: Facts and figures

  • The British Red Cross has deployed more than 1,000 volunteers, who have supported more than 1,700 people – this includes support through the charity's Support Line, at the Westway assistance centre , at Space Safes and through outreach work.
  • At the busiest time, it had an average of 40 volunteers - from all around the country - on site each day.
  • Volunteers come from across the charity’s services, including emergency response, independent living, refugee support, event first aid and mobility aids.
  • Its support line received more than 520 calls relating to the Grenfell Tower Fire.
  • It launched a London Fire Relief Fund to help those affected by the tragedy. It has raised more than £4.7m. £2.4m of that has been transferred to the London Emergencies Trust which is making the grants to the most seriously affected people now.
  • There were many more donations of items for the people affected than are needed – at least 40,000 boxes, enough to fill three football pitches (this amounts to an estimated 174 tonnes but this figure is subject to change as we sort through the rest of the donations).
  • 62 tonnes of donations have been sorted so far and 27 tonnes are either in shops or in transit to shops. They will be clearly marked as raising money for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire and every penny from these sales will go back to victims, via the London Fire Relief Fund.
  • The Red Cross has been sorting through the donations to separate new items – which will be protected for the Grenfell Tower community – from excess donations.
  • 10 tonnes of new goods (mostly clothes), bedding and toiletries are making their way back to the people affected by the fire.
Video Loading

Speaking about its immediate response to the fire, a spokesman for the charity said: “British Red Cross emergency response volunteers from around the country were on the ground from the early hours of Wednesday 14 June, providing practical and emotional support.

“Trained psychosocial support workers that can provide more in-depth support and are experienced in extremely traumatic situations such as the Tunisia beach attack have been working with victims and families through this time.

“This includes through outreach work in the community.

“Our volunteers have worked with the local community to help sort donations.

“We have launched a fundraising appeal and we are staffing a helpline to provide people with support.”

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!