How I witnessed the amazing strength that emerged after Grenfell Tower disaster
THE haunted face of little Charlie Franks is one I will never forget.
I met him at a Christmas party held just six months after the Grenfell Tower disaster, in the shadow of the West London high-rise block.
His friend Fatima Choucair had died on the 22nd floor. She was just 11 and so was he.
The softly spoken boy fought back tears as he told me how they always sat next to each other in maths class and how she was “funny” and liked to “tell jokes”.
Charlie said: “It has been hard to get on with things but we have to keep getting on and getting through.
“I look out for my friends and that makes it easier, even though I see the tower every day, which isn’t nice.”
It was a celebrity-packed party with X Factor winners Rak-Su and Britain’s Got Talent’s Tokio Myers performing while Father Christmas gave out gifts.
Charlie told me: “The party has been brilliant. I have had a really good time.
“My favourite was Rak-Su. That was amazing.” And it was an amazing party. It was organised to bring some festive joy for the local community.
But it was a tough task.
Many had watched in horror as that fire had raged for 60 hours.
And many of them — just like Charlie — knew someone who lived inside.
But despite their excruciating grief, that community had instantly joined together to fight — and speak out — for those who no longer had a voice.
It was held in a youth club which hadn’t shut its doors since the fire. It provided refuge for those who did not have a home and for those too scared to return to their own high-rise buildings for fear of what might happen to them.
They trusted barely anyone.
But you couldn’t blame them because although they lived in one of the richest boroughs in the country, their community had been treated appallingly.
This week the Grenfell Inquiry report confirmed that.
It is heartbreakingly cruel that they have had to wait seven years for any answers.
Jane Atkinson
It showed that all 72 Grenfell fire victims had died needlessly after a catalogue of complacency, greed, corruption, negligence and dishonesty.
Because of decades of total failure.
It confirmed a string of organisations and authorities were to blame for the flammable cladding.
And London Fire Brigade were also to blame because they didn’t heed the warnings from a previous high-rise fire so were totally ill-prepared to deal with Grenfell.
The report also confirmed that those grieving people were kicked when they were down.
It says they were “abandoned” afterwards and there was “evidence of racial discrimination” in the treatment of survivors.
It defies belief that any of this could happen in modern-day Britain — in one of the most advanced cities on Earth.
After the report was published, PM Keir Starmer said tenants of the building had been treated like “second-class citizens”.
You wonder how that community has therefore found the courage, strength and resilience to carry on — but somehow they have.
They will never stop fighting
It is heartbreakingly cruel that they have had to wait seven years for any answers.
Many of the children who attended that party will now be adults, and The X Factor show, which helped R&B group Rak-Su become stars, has long been scrapped.
And while that event will be a distant memory for many of those who went to it, the image of Grenfell ablaze will undoubtedly remain in their minds forever.
And that is why they will never stop fighting.
Manslaughter charges may take a further three years.
The trial verdicts could be pushed into the next decade.
But instead of growing weaker, those survivors have somehow grown stronger.
One, Antonio Roncolato, spoke out after the report was published and said that they could wait — just as long as those responsible are “held to account”.
I truly hope those responsible are held to account and receive the strongest sentences possible.
It would be an utter disgrace for Charlie, and every single person affected by that avoidable disaster, if they weren’t.
Double blow a tragedy for Ayda and Robbie
AYDA FIELD’s message about the loss of her and hubby Robbie Williams’ two dogs on the same night was utterly heartbreaking.
Poupette and Walle “died together in bed, listening to Dancing Queen, surrounded by tremendous love”, she wrote on social media.
Ayda added: “It’s weird how you can share so much with a being that can’t communicate back in the same language.”
But any dog owner knows that stroking, cuddling and just gazing into their pet’s beautiful big eyes is the most magical communication.
My heart goes out to Robbie and Ayda.
Their dogs were part of the family. They took part in the couple’s wedding in 2010 and featured on their social media.
Now both of them have passed away.
I hope Robbie and Ayda find comfort in knowing their dogs were probably two of the most pampered and adored pooches.
Jarring note by Carsley
ENGLAND fans were divided when Lee Carsley refused to sing the national anthem last night in his first game as interim manager – but I thought it was disgusting.
He said he never sang the national anthem of Ireland when he was a player or when he was in charge of the England Under-21s either.
But when you’re given the main job and such a privileged position, it’s an entirely different matter.
What kind of message is he sending out about where his loyalties lie?
He should be there with his proud team belting it out.
The late Sven-Goran Eriksson was Swedish, and English wasn’t his first language, but he gave it his best shot and once said: “There I was, a Swede, standing in front of the bench and trying to sing a bit.”
Good on him.
If you are the manager of a national sports team but refuse to sing the national anthem of that country you shouldn’t be in the job.
Victim’s tough justice
FRENCH grandmother Gisele Pelicot is probably one of the strongest women who has ever given evidence in court.
Her now ex-husband Dominique is alleged to have drugged her for a decade then found scores of depraved, sick abusive men to have sex with her while she was unconscious.
It is claimed he videoed it, and also had naked pictures of his daughter – who “screamed like a wild beast” when she learned of the allegations.
Gisele’s lack of memory led her to believe she had dementia.
She waived her right to anonymity to allow her ex-husband to be truly named and shamed.
And, God, does he deserve that.
Gisele also pushed for the case to be in open court, in solidarity with other women who go unrecognised as victims of sexual crimes.
Amazing courage just doesn’t sum this up.
Waking misery
FOR the past 12 years, Daisuke Hori has survived on just 30 to 40 minutes of sleep a day and reckons it will double his woke lifespan.
Japanese Daisuke, 40, came up with the idea because he wanted to fit more into his day.
But it may just be worth someone telling him that Albert Einstein slept for ten hours per night, had regular daytime naps and lived to 76.
And the famous physicist had much smaller bags under his eyes than the exhausted-looking Daisuke appears to have.
DID you see the survey that looked at how long British women live in different regions?
I wish I hadn’t.
Girls born in the North East – like me – can only expect to live in good health until the age of 59.7 before developing diseases and conditions that put them in poor health.
That’s four years younger than the national average.
I keep repeating the following saying to myself: “It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way.”
EX-STRICTLY judge Arlene Phillips says some celebrities are having secret dance lessons before they take part in the BBC One contest because the show is getting more competitive.
I would be surprised if they didn’t all pay someone to put them through their paces before waltzing in for their first day.