‘Closure’ for Grenfell survivors as they visit to collect keepsakes
Written by News on 30/10/2017
Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have experienced "a sense of closure" after returning to their flats to salvage sentimental items.
The psychologist leading the mental health response said that at least 40 people, including former residents and those supporting them, had visited the tower.
Wearing protective clothing including helmets, the survivors returned to collect any keepsakes which had not been destroyed.
They were accompanied by police, ambulance workers and psychologists.
Dr John Green, the clinical director at the Grenfell Tower NHS Mental Health Response, supported more than a dozen survivor trips, allowing people to retrieve items such as family photographs.
:: Thousands may have mental health problems after tragedy
"People were going there in order to collect things of sentimental value mostly, occasionally papers that they needed for their everyday life, but very often just small things that they wanted," he said.
"A lot of people said to us that it gave them a sense of closure, to be able to go up there."
Visitors were briefed by police on what they could expect.
"The police were very good at making sure everybody was safe, and actually the residents, when they came down, they said they thought that by and large that had been very helpful for them," said Dr Green.
The fire on 14 June caused around 80 deaths, although authorities say a final figure may not be established for months.
"A few people had particular fears, one or two people were quite anxious about heights after the experience that they’d had, but I think the issue was going into the unknown," said Dr Green.
"The police had shown them pictures of their flat to prepare them and explain what they would find when they got there, but of course nothing can quite prepare you for the reality of the situation…
"A lot of them just wanted to see their flat again – some people said that it helped them to understand that it was finished, that they weren’t ever going to go back to the flat."
"I think this is the biggest programme there’s ever been in Europe, certainly in terms of mental health. There’s never been anything like it, Dr Green added.
More than 1,300 have so far been by the Central and North West London NHS Trust (CNWL) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening or physical health concerns.
Health professionals estimate 11,000 people in the wider area could experience difficulties, although not all of them will necessarily seek treatment.
Work has begun to cover the tower in white sheeting and remnants of the cladding will also be taken away for examination.
(c) Sky News 2017: ‘Closure’ for Grenfell survivors as they visit to collect keepsakes
