Today we remember the 72 people who lost their lives in the Grenfell tower tragedy on 14 June 2017.
Our thoughts are with those who lost their families, friends and homes.
In the hours following the tragic events at Grenfell, we took immediate action and put measures in place to make sure the tower blocks in our care either met or exceeded all appropriate fire safety standards, and to reassure our customers.
This was crucial in the immediate aftermath of Grenfell and during the following months, when extensive testing revealed that cladding on our three tower blocks did not meet safety testing requirements. Our work included sprinkler installation, removing and replacing cladding across the three tower blocks, and installing a 24-hour fire watch.
From our board members to our call handlers, everyone was clear throughout our work that our purpose was to make sure residents felt safe in their homes.
Our customer first approach resulted in unprecedented levels of communication with our tower block customers, including more than twenty printed communications, weekly surgeries to allow for two-way engagement and feedback from customers that told us they felt safe due to our approach.
Going above and beyond on safety, we wanted to make sure we were doing everything possible for our customers to feel safe. We introduced all interim measures recommended by the then DCLG Expert Panel (now Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), including the provision of a 24-hour fire watch.
Following the initial few weeks of our work, we gave evidence to the Welsh Government’s Fire Safety Advisory Group (FSAG) in August 2017 on our approach to tower block safety in the aftermath of Grenfell. The FSAG commended NCH and has taken our approach as an example to others as best practice.
Our partnership approach with key stakeholders, including South Wales Fire & Rescue Service, Welsh Government and Community Housing Cymru (CHC) meant that our residents could be reassured that all safety aspects had been considered throughout the project. This approach was also commended by our customers.
This important work continues to this day, and we have recently received a £4m grant from Welsh Government to continue our fire safety work across our three tower blocks at Hillview, Greenwood and Milton Court. Find out more here: https://bit.ly/43X4uvR