Update from The DIY SOS Team

From The DIY SOS Team:

To Grenfell former residents and the wider community,

We are writing to you to let you know that a two part television series entitled “DIY SOS: Grenfell” will be broadcast on BBC1 on Wednesday 5 and 12 September at 9 pm. In the run up to the transmission of the first programme on 5 September, there will be trailers which will start going out on BBC 1 in the next few days.

The first episode will tell the story of the building of a new home for the Dale Youth Boxing Club and the second programme the following week will the story of building a new community centre. We appreciate that there are sensitivities around this for former residents and their families and we wanted to ensure you and your family and friends are aware of the programme before these programmes go out.

The boxing club programme talks about the history and success of the Dale Youth Boxing Club and its importance and impact on young people in particular, in the community. The community centre programme focuses on the community and how different groups such as a West Indian Dominos Group and mental health providers might benefit from the creation of the space. We have made clear that it is up to the community to decide how the space is ultimately used in a process that is currently ongoing.

An update on the community centre process: a steering group is being set up to decide who will be the community operator.  An expression of interest to be on the steering group is live and the deadline is September 7th. The tender for the community operator will be issued on September 3rd and it will be open for eight weeks. In the interim, the Westway Trust will manage the space but will not make any decisions about long term bookings. The Westway Trust will hold an open day so everyone can see the community centre during this process.

We would like to let you know in advance that both programmes include residents, eye witnesses, two current firefighters and other locals talking about their experiences of the fire on June 14th last year. It also includes some news archive of the fire and its aftermath.  It includes images and descriptions of what happened on the night which some people close to the events could find distressing.

We would like to assure you that we have treated this horrific tragedy with the utmost respect and sensitivity. We have also found positive stories in the community to tell. We hope we have left a small contribution to the community in these two buildings that have been paid for and built solely through donations worth over £2million.

If you would like any further information, please contact us at diysos@bbc.co.uk

We would like to thank everyone in the community who has met with us, helped us and contributed in any other way as we couldn’t have done this without that support. We really appreciate it.

Yours sincerely

The DIY SOS Team