Further £3m given to Grenfell fire victims in past week, commission’s data shows

A total of £5.8m of the £19m raised has now been distributed, according to the regulator

An additional £3m has been distributed to victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in the past week, according to new data released by the Charity Commission.

Last week the commission announced that just £2.8m of the £19m raised for Grenfell Tower victims had been distributed to those affected.

But commission data released last night shows that £5.8m has now reached the people who need it, although that still represents less than a third of the money that has been raised so far.

The amount that has been given to distributors by groups fundraising for the Grenfell fire victims has also reached £9.2m – an almost £1.9m increase on last week’s total. 

The fire, which occurred in Kensington, west London, on 14 June, killed an estimated 80 people and left many more homeless.

The Charity Commission has also announced that initial payments to the next of kin of those who are believed or known to have died in the fire have been increased from £20,000 to £40,000.

Payments to those seriously injured at Grenfell have also been doubled from £10,000 to £20,000 per person.

The Rugby Portobello Trust will also distribute a £15,000 payment from the London Community Foundation to families from Grenfell Tower in the next few days, the commission said.

Of the funds raised so far, British Red Cross has sent £2.4m of the almost £5.8m it has raised to distributing organisations, and the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation has also sent £2.5m of its £5.8m.

The Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and the London Community Foundation has sent £3.9m of the £6.2m it has raised to distributing organisations, the commission data shows.

Artists for Grenfell and the London Community Foundation have sent £316,000 of the £700,000 it has raised to distributing organisations, and Muslim Aid has sent £57,713 of its £177,803.

Of the distributing organisations, the London Emergencies Trust has given £1.8m of the £4.8m it has received to victims, and the Rugby Portobello Trust has got £3.3m of the £4m it has to those affected.

Direct distributions from the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation, Turn2us, Muslim Aid and the London Community Foundation have all been sent in full to victims of the fire.

Clement James Centre has distributed £58,482 of the £62,923 it has received to victims, and the National Zakat Foundation has handed out all of the £253,080 it has been given to Grenfell victims.

David Holdsworth, registrar of charities in England and Wales, said: “We are pleased that a further £3m has reached survivors and those affected by this terrible tragedy in the last week, and that further funds will be distributed in the coming days. Some challenges still remain but it is important that the charities continue to work with the community and that the remaining funds are made available to meet their short, medium and longer-term needs.”

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Partnerships round-up: Greene King raises £3m for Macmillan in five years

Plus: Wilko smashes yearly target; Masterclass Trust announces partnership with Waldorf Hilton; Barclays events raise £32k for Leeds Mencap

The pub chain Greene King has has raised £3m over the past five years for Macmillan Cancer Support through fundraising events including cake sales, raffles, quizzes and donating a percentage of the sales of its desserts.

The next campaign the company has planned is Miles for Macmillan, in which the company’s 43,000 employees plus customers will be invited to walk, run, bike or swim enough miles to reach the moon – a quarter of a million in total. The challenge will include a team climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

The homeware retailer Wilko has raised £1.3m for local and national charities in the year to the end of April, it has announced.

The company smashed its target of £1m through staff fundraising, with employees at Wilko’s 402 stores, two distribution centres and head office taking part in sponsored walks, bike rides, bake-offs, charity football matches, body waxing and more.

Charities that benefited from their efforts included the Alzheimer’s Society, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, the Children’s Air Ambulance, the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.

The Masterclass Trust, an education charity run by London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket, has announced a partnership with the Waldorf Hilton hotel.

In 2015, the hotel, with the Hilton in the Community Foundation, raised more than £17,000 for the Masterclass Trust, which helps young people into creative industries through apprenticeships, workshops and support from industry professionals.  

Guy Hilton, general manager of the Waldorf Hilton, said: “It’s vitally important for us to give something back to the community and we’re very much looking forward to embarking on this new partnership.”

Branches of Barclays in Yorkshire and north-east England raised £32,500 last year for the learning disability charity Leeds Mencap through events including a corporate golf day, a rowathon and a sporting dinner.

The money will go towards supporting very young children with learning disabilities at the charity’s specialist playroom.

Dawn Spencer, business manager at Barclays, said: “Barclays has supported Leeds Mencap for years, but last year we reached a whole new level.”

She said the business was keen to support the playroom because it was crucial that very young children with learning disabilities received early intervention support when they most needed it.

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