14/12/2017 London News

lot of cloud and rain in the

Northwest. That's

Welcome to BBC London News. I'm Sara

Orchard.

It's six months

on from the Grenfell Tower fire,

and 111 families remain homeless.

They're living in temporary

accommodation, and many face

the prospect of spending Christmas

in hotel rooms.

Ayshea Buksh spoke to one family

about their life since the fire,

and their hopes of one day buying

a home in Kensington and Chelsea.

The Alves family lived

in the Grenfell Tower

for nearly 20 years.

Shortly after the fire started,

Miguel arrived home

from an evening out with his wife.

It was 1am and he raced up

the stairs to the 13th floor.

He woke up all his neighbours

and children, including his daughter

Ines who had been revising

for her GCSE chemistry.

So when I woke up, my dad

barged into the room,

my chemistry notes were right next

to me so the first thing I grabbed,

and whilst I thought

they were going to put the fire out

I was like, why not

waste my time and revise?

And a few hours after they escaped,

Ines went to school,

sat the chemistry exam and got an A.

Six months on, she's

studying her A-levels.

I'm doing chemistry,

maths and economics, and I'm really

enjoying my new school.

Nice change.

Like so many survivors,

Ines's family struggled

with somewhere to live.

They were moved between hotels.

And now they're living in temporary

accommodation in Kensington.

It's not a place that

I can call home.

I mean, it's a place that's better

than the hotel, of course,

and we feel as a family

a lot better.

They've been humbled by the kindness

of strangers who have donated

furniture and all sorts

of household goods.

The things that we have that's

donated by people who don't know

us but they are friends of people

we work for, I pray every day

and I thank God because we have been

given more than we deserve.

The couple were leaseholders

at Grenfell, having bought

the three-bedroom flat under

the Right to Buy scheme.

They fear they'll struggle to buy

again in the Borough

of Kensington and Chelsea.

They should give us enough

to buy in that area.

I know it's difficult, I know,

but it's not our fault.

Like many other families

from the Grenfell Tower, they'll

be spending Christmas

in temporary accommodation.

They pray in the New Year they'll

find a more permanent home.

Ayshea Buksh, BBC

London News, Kensington.

Well the Metropolitan

Police Commissioner has told BBC

London her force will do whatever it

takes to bring to justice anyone

who committed criminal

offences linked to the fire.

Cressida Dick, who attended

this morning's memorial

at St Paul's Cathedral,

also talked about the impact

the tragedy has had on her officers.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent

Nick Beake is here now -

what else did she say, Nick?

We know that the Grenfell Tower

investigation criminal investigation

is one of the biggest in Scotland

Yard's history. Today Cressida Dick

said they would investigate

meticulously, fairly and fearlessly.

She also said her thoughts and

prayers were with the victims today,

their families and also the

survivors, and spoke a little about

the impact it's had on the thousands

of officers she said had been

intimately connected with what

happened. Those there on the night,

people taking those traumatic 999

calls, as well as officers working

in the community since. She also

singled out some other specialist

teams.

The people working in the

tower, only just finished seven days

a week since then, on their hands

and knees, looking through all of

the material, the people working

with the families, liaison officers,

I could go on, there are so many,

thousands, who I'm sure have been

profoundly affected by what they

have seen and will be for the rest

of their lives.

It's worth

remembering the police have three

roles in this, they are gathering

information for the coroner, also

providing details for the wider

public inquiry which will be taking

place, and of course it's the

criminal investigation too. Cressida

Dick has said she doesn't is

expected to be completed until the

end of next year. There have been no

arrests yet, but she said people can

rest assured her officers will do

all they can to get to the truth.

Thank you for your time.

And tonight at 6.30pm we'll

have a special programme

in North Kensington

to mark six months since

the Grenfell Tower tradgedy.

In other news,

people living near Heathrow will get

the chance to have their say

on plans to build a third runway

and expand the airport.

From next month local

communities will be invited

to comment on some new and revised

options, including the design,

changes to flight paths,

and the reconfiguration of the M25.

The public consultation will last

for 10 weeks and is separate

to the one held by the government.

British Transport Police

have released CCTV images of two men

they believe threatened and robbed

a teenager of his bike.

The 16-year-old was on the platform

of West Drayton Station

during the altercation

and after, refusing to

release the bike the men

threatened to stab him.

It happened on the evening

of November 5th.

It's back to primary school

for a group of pensioners

in East London, in what's believed

to be the first UK

scheme of its kind.

More than a dozen older people

with early stage dementia will spend

mornings with pupils,

joining in various activities.

Tim Muffet has been to Downshall

Primary in Illford.

Back to school.

For some, it's been

more than 60 years.

But at Downshall Primary

in Redbridge, East London,

there are lessons to be

learned for all ages.

Three days a week the older

adults come and join us.

They do some artwork.

They play puzzles with these

very young children who

have only been in

school a few months.

And they give them the opportunity

to talk and interact.

Downshall Primary is thought to be

the first UK primary to host regular

day care for the elderly.

The scheme's been

trialled for a month,

it officially launches today.

I just like children.

They look so beautiful.

When they do something they go...

Why do you like having the older

people coming along to visit

your school?

Because we get to talk to them.

I just love it.

They are very nice because

they can play with us.

Inspiration for this project came

from Japan, which has, it is

thought, the fastest growing elderly

population in the world, and where

community led elderly and dementia

care has flourished.

What we want to do is try

and bring that to the UK.

We don't have those sort of

multi-generational families that we

may have had 50 years ago.

What that does is it

puts people at risk of

loneliness and isolation.

Doctor Hinchliffe says collaboration

between the school, North East

London NHS Trust and charities such

as Redbridge Age UK, all mean that

the cost of the scheme

will be negligible.

The benefits potentially huge.

Can I have one every five minutes?

LAUGHTER.

Some say education is a gift that

keeps on giving.

At Downshall Primary

school life is bringing

benefits to young and old.

Tim Muffett, BBC News.

Now let's get a check on the weather

with Elizabeth Ritzinni.

Good afternoon, it was a rather

chilly start today, we are back into

colder air. Lots of sunshine right

across the capital, some blustery

conditions too. Most of the show us

this morning passed to the south of

us and that will be the case through

the rest of the day. Slightly

lighter winds, top temperatures

between three and six Celsius so

rather cold feel as we head into

this evening. Further showers for

the overnight period, drifting in on

that breeze. Plenty of cloud around,

temperatures ranging between two and

four degrees Celsius with the chance

of sleet from these showers but most

will fall as rain. The same thing

tomorrow, most show was falling as

rain, many places staying dry. We

are likely to see showers in eastern

areas through the afternoon with a

lot of cloud around tomorrow and it

will feel chilly. A few changes on

Saturday, the wind coming from a

north-westerly direction so we stand

a greater chance of seeing some

sunshine. We will probably start of

the weekend with a widespread frosts

but the nicest day of the weekend by

the time we get to Sunday, it be

feeling milder.

That's about it from me.

Riz Lateef will be here

with our special 6:30pm evening

programme to mark six months

since the Grenfell fire.

But for now, from us all,

have a very good afternoon.