Ipswich Cladiators host Grenfell vigil: "6 years later little has changed"
The vigil marked six years since the Grenfell Tower tragedy
Last updated 15th Jun 2023
A vigil's been held in Ipswich to mark the sixth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, and remember the 72 people who lost their lives.
The tragedy sparked concerns about potentially unsafe cladding on buildings across the UK, including 19 buildings in Ipswich.
The campaign group, Ipswich Cladiators hosted the event last night at the Cornhill, to remember those lives lost, and to call for change for those still struggling in the building safety crisis.
Claire Hamblion lived in Cardinal Lofts for 9 years before finding out the building was unsafe and has been campaigning with the Ipswich Cladiators for the last 3 years for affected buildings to be fixed: "I remember at the time thinking: 'I'm in a flat, am I safe? Maybe I should come up with an escape plan... then three years ago, we learnt our building had defects."
Kimberly Last lived in Cardinal Lofts for 5 years and only learnt the building was unsafe when she planned to move:
"You just think about what did happen to those people. I just can't comprehend it, it must have been awful.
"Cardinal Lofts is 9 floors high, and we lived on the 5th floor, and I know how high up that felt, so god knows what those people on the 23rd floor at Grenfell would have felt.
"I think it's absolutely awful that this could easily happen again because nothing has been done to fix these buildings yet."
Labour Candidate Jack Abbot gave a speech about how leaseholders and owners of a property within a building should not be responsible for the costs of fixing these properties affected by the cladding and building safety crisis.
He and others want the government to put through legislation holding developers and property owners responsible for the unsafe buildings.
Alec Dickin Founder of Ipswich Cladiators told us why this vigil is important:
"As well as remembering those who lost their lives, we also need to reflect on how there are thousands of buildings around the country, including nineteen in Ipswich, which could at any point result in a similar style tragedy."
What does the government say?
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said it is taking steps to ensure buildings are safer.
A DLUHC spokesman said: “The Grenfell Tower tragedy must never be allowed to happen again and our thoughts are with the bereaved families, survivors and residents.
“So far, 45 of the UK’s biggest housebuilders have signed our developer pledge and will contribute £5 billion to fix their unsafe buildings.
“We expect them to work swiftly so people feel safe in their homes, and we will be carefully scrutinising their progress.
“The Building Safety Act brings forward the biggest improvements in building safety for a generation, giving more rights and protections for residents than ever before.”