One of the especially heartbreaking aspects of the Grenfell Tower tragedy was the devastation it inflicted on children. Almost all the local schools lost pupils, teachers or other staff members. Holland Park, the local state secondary school situated less than three kilometres away, is no different..
“The news broke on the radio as I was driving into work,” said deputy head Richard Northover. “As soon as I arrived at school I searched the database to find out if any students lived there.”
One of the names Mr Northover found was Nur Huda el-Wahabi, 15, who had previously been in his English class. He remembers her as “a warm, good-spirited [child]”. The teacher tried to contact the family via Nur Huda’s father, but the phone was never answered and the line soon cut out.
The entire family, who were originally from Morocco, are believed to have perished in the tower: Nur Huda, her father Abdul Aziz, 52, mother Fouzia, 42, and two brothers, Mehdi, eight and Yasin, 21. Yasin was also a student at Holland Park..
Nur Huda’s name is set to live on beyond the official tributes and memorials to the victims of Grenfell because she is to be immortalised as a character in a children’s book written by Philip Pullman, the author of the hugely popular His Dark Materials trilogy (part of which, Northern Lights, Nur Huda had read in primary school).
Mr Pullman and many other members of the literary world, including Margaret Atwood, Michael Rosen and Antonia Fraser, donated work or their skills to an online auction to help raise money. The 70-year-old novelist offered up the right to name a character in the second part of The Book of Dust series he is currently writing.
“This book … will be published [next] year,” the online entry reads. “The right to name a character doesn’t guarantee that he or she will be good, bad, beautiful or otherwise, but it will be a speaking role with a part to play in the plot.”
Enter James Clements, who had taught Nur Huda at primary school and bid an initial £1,500 for the item “on a whim”.
“I thought a character in The Book of Dust would be a nice way of remembering someone I taught and was fond of," he said. "A life that was so full of promise has been cut short in the most terrible way. As well as raising some money, this would mean her name would live on. Plus Nur Huda is a pretty cool name for a character." ”
The bid picked up more support, and within days y 449 people had raised £32,000 to win the auction.
Mr Northover says the gregarious Nur Huda would have loved the idea of having a character named after her. “She didn’t shy away from the limelight. She sat at the back of my room, in the middle; she was a focal point. She liked to joke but worked hard as well. In that sense she was a positive role model. I saw her mature into an impressive young lady.”
Mr Clements also remembers a girl whose enormous potential was cut short by the fire, among many others. “We should remember the names of everyone who didn’t make it out of the building that night. We should remember their names, remember what happened to them, and as a society, make sure that we do all we can to stop anything like it happening again.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Granta
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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