Concert raises £30,000 for survivors of Grenfell Tower fire

Janis Kelly leading a choir in a rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone during the Grenfell Tower Benefit Concert at Cadogan Hall
PA
Lizzie Edmonds @lizzieedmo18 September 2017

A classical music concert has raised more than £30,000 for survivors of the Grenfell tower disaster.

Some 75 former residents were among the 850-strong audience at Cadogan Hall last night for the three-hour performance.

Families affected by the fire, which killed at least 80 people, were invited to attend for free, with the cost of their tickets donated by members of the public.

Opening the concert, BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny said: “What I think to all Londoners has become abundantly clear in the three months since the catastrophe is that Grenfell Tower was home to a true and real community, a community that has become even stronger since those events of three months ago.”

The programme opened with an emotional rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, sung by the entire company of singers and accompanied by a full orchestra.

All funds raised will be split equally between the Rugby Portobello Trust and Grief Encounter, which are focusing on rehabilitating affected families and helping them look to the future.

Soprano Nazan Fikret, who organised the concert, said: “A lot of the families - especially the older generation - didn’t want to go to things like the football because it wasn’t the right thing for them.

“More than a handful have said ‘We really want to have new beginnings and hope, and the concert can be part of that, we’re doing new enjoyable things and starting to go out as families again and meet our neighbours again, who we haven’t seen’.”

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