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Grenfell survivors urge council to keep volunteer therapists
Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire are urging the council not to axe the services of 15 volunteer complementary therapists who have been supporting victims for the past seven months.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has told the therapists they must leave their positions at the Curve community centre in West London by Friday 26 January.
The therapists belong to Complementary Support Teams UK (CSTUK), a service that provides support for victims of disasters.
It is vague what services will replace those provided by the support team, though a number of therapists remain at the Curve.
A draft strategy document from the council says the aim is to have a single lead provider of related complementary therapy services, linked to the NHS, for Grenfell survivors. The council says the volunteer therapists are welcome to apply for jobs at the Curve.
CSTUK also says the council intends to restrict future complementary therapy treatments to just four sessions per person.
The council insists that despite the 15 volunteer therapists having their assistance terminated in the next few days, therapy services will continue uninterrupted. The draft strategy document states that there are four lead therapists and three other therapists at the Curve.
It is not yet clear if they will be immediately able to absorb all the work done by the 15 volunteers or whether the 150 people receiving therapy from the CST volunteers will be happy to transfer to them.
Jane Lawson, who set up CSTUK, said: “We have 150 survivors and other residents on our books who we are currently providing therapies to. They are in the middle of a programme of therapies and this programme is going to be cut on Friday.
“We have built up relationships of trust with the survivors. Many survivors don’t want to use services provided by the council. Is the council not listening to what survivors want?”
A council spokesperson said: “Therapy services continue uninterrupted at the Curve – we are standardising our early-years service, which is delivered by paid professionals, with our adults’ service, which was delivered by volunteers. We thank the volunteers for the fantastic work they have done and we very much welcome their application should they wish to be part of this new service, which is closely integrated with the NHS and other partners."
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