14.06.2017 Grenfell Tower
I remember passing the tower on the tube, a few days after the fire and the whole carriage gasping out loud. A monument to greed and political incompetence.
My 72 neighbours. Never forget.
I just remember watching it and thinking there was no way it was 72 people who passed away.
72 was the official number, but the amount of people that came out to help over the coming days to find no one *to* help was gut wrenching.
Seeing it IRL was breathtaking. Just horrible.
I lived just up the road in Kensal Rise at the time, 15 mins walk away from the tower. What a terrible day. The people who lived there deserved so much better.
I was working in the social housing sector at the time - it left me completely disillusioned with it - from the housing association bosses worried about the cost of fixing the cladding to colleagues using Grenfell to further their careers while the number of deaths was still going up
I remember the first time I saw it in reality - 11am, Sunday 9th July from a coach driving into London. it was - and remains - a horrifying sight.
It shocks still. Always will. Never forget.