'Not enough support' for children affected by Grenfell Tower fire
A worker at a nursery says she has noticed a change in the children, with many acting out what they saw and heard.
Wednesday 26 July 2017 22:24, UK
The trauma being experienced by many children living near Grenfell Tower is immense - and those supporting them say their families are not getting enough help.
Ahmed Chellat lost five members of his family in the fire and lives in a flat opposite the tower with grandson Sulayman.
The six-year-old was the first in his family to notice the blaze out of his bedroom window.
"Since the 14th June, Sulayman has completely changed," Ahmed explained.
"He has frequent night terrors and where he used to watch TV on his own or play while I went to the kitchen, now he cannot be alone at all, he wants to be close to his mum or me.
"He lived the fire, he came out to see it with me and his mother.
"Like all the children here he has been badly affected and it's worse because they are not talking about it."
Since the fire many children have been benefiting by regularly attending school and retaining a sense of routine and normality.
Now it is the holidays there is growing concern for the children who have to see the tower every day, walk past the memorials and hear the stories of pain and anguish.
Sue Duggins, who works at a nursery near Grenfell Tower, says she has already noticed a difference in the behaviour of the children.
"I'm concerned that the families are not getting the support they need." she told Sky News.
"We lost one child and her family in the fire and have noticed the children at the nursery now acting out fire play, repeating what they have seen and heard, which is good as it shows they are healing, but it is also shocking and sad to watch."
Grief Encounter is a bereavement charity working directly with around 100 children affected by the fire.
Founder Shelley Gilbert said its aim is to help the children have fun and play again without feeling guilty.
But she admitted it was proving to be a challenge: "The terror is palpable and the children are telling stories of feeling trapped with no escape.
"Not only do they talk about the noises and the death screams of people jumping out of windows but more powerfully about the deafening silence.
"As a practitioner I work to help children find that safe space again, but I am not sure we can help in this circumstance.
"The families literally have nowhere to turn."
When Sky News asked the new leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council what it was doing to provide mental health support to children and families, she admitted more needed to be done.
Elizabeth Campbell said: "Every family has a key worker with wrap-around care, but obviously we can do more and I think now is probably the time that we need to look at the model we are providing once again and see if we can improve it."