Bomb victim families get £250k from fund

BOMB VICTIMS . . . Lisa Lees (left) and Alison Howe

FAMILIES of those who lost their lives in the Manchester Arena bomb attack are expected to receive up to £250,000 each.

An outpouring of public support has taken the total raised by the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund to £18m.

Now it has been revealed that bereaved relatives - who have already been able to claim £70,000 from the fund - will be eligible for another £180,000.

Around £9m will be left when the new round of payments has been completed and donations are still flocking in.

People who were taken to hospital have already been given flat rate payments from the fund, which trustees describe as 'a gift from the people of Manchester and around the world'.

A total of 22 people, including Royton mums Alison Howe and Lisa Lees, died when a suicide bomber detonated a nail bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena in the minutes after American pop star Ariana Grande had finished her sell-out show. Hundreds more were injured.

It is likely that those seriously injured in the attack will be among those to benefit further from the remaining funds.

Councillor Sue Murphy, chair of the trustees of the fund, said: "The city and the world responded with such extreme kindness, generosity and solidarity in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack.

"Thanks to this we have raised more than £18 million and we were conscious that we had to get some of this swiftly to those with immediate needs.

"We have therefore given a around third of the total to the bereaved families and £3.5m to those who were hospitalised after the attack. So we have allocated over half of the existing money already.

"We will now spend some time looking at how we will distribute the rest of the funds. This will be a complex and sensitive process as we will need to assess the long-term impacts of the attack."

Many of those affected by the tragedy are also entitled to apply to the the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.