Grenfell Tower fire: Memorial garden funded by relatives of a victim opens to the public

Sophie Williams11 June 2018

A memorial garden dedicated to the community devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire has been unveiled.

The £10,000 garden at St Clement's church has been paid for by relatives of Sheila, one of the victims of the Grenfell fire and is dedicated to peace and justice for the community affected by the fire.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally were joined by members of the community for the opening ceremony.

The garden at the church features shrubs, two benches and a large mosaic plaque shaped like an anchor with different religious symbols to reflect the diversity of the neighbourhood.

Members of the fire brigade from Ladbroke Grove arrive at the opening ceremony
PA

Sheila's family have vowed to pay for the garden's upkeep.

It comes as residents prepare to mark the first anniversary of the blaze which killed 72 people.

Crowds gather to attend the dedication of a new memorial garden
PA

Mr Khan said: “Our love and prayers are with those who were affected by the fire at Grenfell last year. This garden is to honour them.

“It is a garden of peace, healing and justice. The fire last year shone a light on the inequalities in our city and our country – one of the richest in the world.

"It also shone a light on the resilience and solidarity of this wonderful community. It is in their honour we must find out the truth of what happened.”

The Bishop of London Right Rev Sarah Mullally processes into St Clement's Church
REUTERS

Survivors, community groups and representatives from the emergency services were among the congregation at a church service ahead of the opening of the garden.

Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad were also among those invited.

Graham Tomlinson, the Bishop of Kensington warned those in attendance that “the next few days will not be easy and that is why we need to fix ourselves on hope.”

He told attendees to see the garden as a sign of hope every time they walk past it.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in