A North Kensington charity has raised £6million in public donations for a fund to help those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire .
On Thursday (September 21) the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation (K&C Foundation) announced it had so far paid out £4.44 million to Grenfell Tower fire survivors and to the next of kin of those who lost their lives on June 14.
The charity confirmed a further £1.52 million in grants was to be paid to survivors with immediate effect.
The K&C Foundation set up the Grenfell Tower Fund to provide emergency and ongoing support to residents and others affected directly by the fire as well as the surrounding community.
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K&C Foundation director, Susan Dolton, said: "The response to our Grenfell Tower Fund has been overwhelming and heart-warming.
"We really hope that these funds, which were so generously donated by the public, will help people to begin the journey to rebuild their lives. "
Survivors' group Grenfell United asked that payments be easy to understand and simple to access.
To facilitate this, payments from The K&C Foundation will be made immediately to individual survivors via The Rugby Portobello Trust - a trusted local organisation.
£1.52 million will be paid to survivors through a joint initiative with the British Red Cross and households from Grenfell Tower will receive further grants of £15,000.
Those from Grenfell Walk will receive £8,000 with immediate effect.
The K&C Foundation will provide £1.52 million towards these payments and the British Red Cross, working with the London Emergencies Trust will provide £773,000.
Donations totalling £1.2 million were paid from the K&C Foundation’s Grenfell Tower Fund in June to a joint charity initiative with the British Red Cross, London Community Foundation/Evening Standard to enable the London Emergencies Trust to provide funds to the next of kin of people who lost their lives or who were hospitalised.
An initial £120,000 was made available within days of the tragedy to six organisations working on the frontline.
This money was paid out for immediate needs to people from Grenfell Tower who had lost their homes or those in the wider area who had been displaced.
The K&C Foundation expect to announce a further distribution of the remaining £1.56million in the near future.
Around 80 people are believed to have died in the fire, the number of identified victims is currently 66, with 60 inquests held so far.
A public enquiry into the tragedy is ongoing.
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