More funding released for victims of Manchester Arena attack
Total of £908,000 will be split between the people injured
The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund has released more funds to those injured by the attack at the Manchester Arena.
People who have received life-changing injuries - including paralysis, loss of limbs or other major injuries - will receive a further payment of £40,000.
As they have already received £60,000 from the Fund for being hospitalised for seven nights or more this will bring the total they have received to £100,000.
These new funds will be given to people in three categories:
• People who were hospitalised less than a week and who are likely to make a full recovery, but who nonetheless have serious injuries and are still receiving ongoing medical treatment may be able to receive a further £56,500, subject to medical evidence. As they have already received £3,500 from the Fund this will bring the total they have received so far to £60,000.
• There may be a small number of people who may not have already been captured by the existing criteria and who may be unable to work or study because of their physical injuries, and who have not had any payments so far. Those who are in hardship will receive a further payment of £10,000, providing that the medical evidence is received.
If people think they may be eligible they can contact the Emergency Fund on emergency.fund@manchester.gov.uk
This latest round of funding brings the total distributed from the fund to £10m, leaving approximately £8m still left in the Fund.
The trustees of the Emergency Fund will now decide how and when to distribute the rest of the money, including taking medical advice on how to best help those who are suffering from mental health conditions following the attack.
The money is a gift from the people of Manchester and the rest of the world and as such, there are no conditions to receiving the money.
Councillor Sue Murphy, chair of the trustees of the fund, said: “We know that some of those who were injured have had their lives totally changed following the Arena attack. Many of those people will never fully recover.
“Thanks to the generosity of the people of Manchester, and around the world, we are able to make further gifts to those most seriously injured, as identified by medical professionals.
“We hope that this will support them as they adapt to their new future.
“We’re also conscious that our initial categories - which were developed to help us get money out quickly - may have meant that some people with long-term conditions only received £3,500 from the fund.
“We’ve agreed that those people - identified by medical experts - will receive a further payment to bring them in line with those who had been in hospital for more than a week, who had received £60,000 in total.
“We will now spend some time looking at how we will distribute the rest of the funds. This will be a complex and sensitive process as we will need to assess the long-term impacts of the attack. We will issue an update as soon as we know more.”