Hornchurch Flat Explosion - Help

Urgent Help Needed

After the deverstating news on 23/01/2017 that an explosion ripped through a block of flats in Hornchurch, Ardleigh Green School Mums, Dads, Relatives along with the local community wanted to raise as much money as possible to help rebuild the lives of those affected and in need of short term help - residents lost everything from personal belongings, clothes, money, pets, sentimental items and more.

What we have done / are doing to help

Phase 1 - Contact with residents

Reach out to as many residents as possible and ask those requiring help to come forward within the first two weeks. To do this we will use social media, word of mouth from those staying with others in hotels and full details provided by swan via email. [DONE]

Phase 2 - Clothes/Toiletries/Food/Samaritan / Counselling contacts

Charlotte Kindly opened the doors of Ardleigh House for a weekend so that a donation station, coffee morning and indoor bootsale could be held so that residents could drop in and out to gather items needed/to replace those items lost in the wreckage. Donations received from the community were overwhelming! and lots of people have already come forward for the next phase offering furniture which is great, for when residents are re-housed. Amanda has spoken to the council and they will be providing a list of items lost from the tenants themselves and we will strive as a team to replace as many lost items as possible. We also provided tenants with Samaritan | Counsellor details based on their personal preference [DONE]

Phase 3 - Furniture Donations [Current]

If you have any furniture to donate, please email [email redacted] who will pass all item descriptions on to Nina and Amanda who will in turn, contact the relevant residents to notify them that an item on their list has been donated.

Please Note:

The purpose of raising this money is to split the funds between residents that have come forward wanting help - any funds raised will be will split amongst those that came forward based on individual needs/circumstances in order to help them get back on their feet.

A big thank you to Celia Hammond and local authorities for pulling together and rescuing all pets notified as missing! from cats, kittens and even a red fire belly newt - they are all alive and well.

Facebook Comments - Insurance ?!?

There has been a number of comments on Facebook around insurance ... Please don't let insurance be the first thing you think of as (1) claims take time to go through (2) your assuming people had insurance (3) no one is forcing you to donate - people lost everything - a lady and her child evcuated in nothing but a dressing gown.

From what I was advised, the council, despite an army of volunteers at the ready, was unable to open any local buildings for those wanting to serve tea/coffee and provide warmth/blankets to assist and said other than possible emergency accommodation such as a hotel in the short term was all they could offer. It's the least we can do as a community to help and it's something we want to do.

This page has been shared on Twitter tagging news crews that were operating last night (ITV, BBC, Sun) at the time as well as local radio station Time FM on Facebook asking them to share and support this - they have contacted Sarah for information to help drive this campaign to get some crisis cash in for those affected in the short term. 

Sarah, Nina, Amanda
on behalf of the Ardleigh Green community & surrounding areas xx

Full story can be read via the links below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38724826
http://www.itv.com/news/london/2017-01-23/emergency-services-attend-explosion-at-hornchurch-flats/