Grenfell United have unveiled several new guerrilla projections on tower blocks across the UK to raise awareness about the unsafe living conditions for many UK residents living in high-rise flats and apartment buildings.
Messages such as “The fire doors in this building are still not fit for purpose”, “2 years after Grenfell this building still has no sprinklers” and “2 years after Grenfell and this building is still covered in dangerous cladding. #DemandChange” have been projected across the blocks in London, Manchester and Newcastle.
Two years since the Grenfell Tower Tragedy, the devastating fire in West London which killed 72 people and left hundreds displaced and homeless, many multi-storey tower blocks are still plastered in dangerous cladding and lack sprinklers and fire safe doors; things which would have saved lives had they been in place in Grenfell Tower.
Many of these buildings used in the protest are wrapped in a cheap combustible expanded polystyrene; the same material which caused the Grenfell fire to spread as rapidly and ferociously as it did.
Fire safety experts and MPs have called for the cladding to be removed from tower blocks to prevent a fire like Grenfell ever happening again but this has not yet occurred.
Of the 158 tower blocks covered in the cladding, only 56 have had it removed; meaning 65% of unsafe high rises are yet to be made safe for residents.
Recently, a fire erupted at a flat in Barking which destroyed 30 homes. This fire is also being blamed on unsafe building materials.
On the protest, Grenfell United said they were calling for housing high-rises in the UK to be “made safe, and for residents to be listened to and treated with respect”. They also added that they “needed to send a strong message” with this protest.
Natasha Elcock, chairman of Grenfell United, called for change in a statement. She said, “It’s been two years since Grenfell and people are still going to bed at night worried that a fire like Grenfell could happen to them”.
As we keep the victims of Grenfell in our thoughts as the second anniversary of the tragedy approaches, read about the work of Grenfell United and how you can support their campaign here.