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Football

17th Jun 2017

Ryan Bertrand is going above and beyond to help those affected by the Grenfell fire

Paul Moore

Superb from the England and Southampton defender.

Given that Ryan Bertrand was born in Southwark, London, it’s clear that the former Chelsea defender has close ties to the city. Like so many of us, he was deeply moved at the tragic loss of life that was caused by the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower.

At the time of writing, the Met Police have stated that they’ve dispatched “family liaison officers to support 52 families. These include the families of those deceased as well as those who are critically injured, and also families in cases where police have strong reason to believe that people reported as missing are very likely to be inside Grenfell Tower.”

They add: “Over the last four days police have worked tirelessly to provide greater clarity on the number of people that are believed to have died in the fire.This has involved focusing our efforts on the people we have been told were in the building at the time of the fire but have not been seen since Based on what police now know, sadly 58 are missing and we assumed likely to have died.”

Aside from the time that he spent on loan at various clubs, Bertrand enjoyed nine years as a professional at Stamford Bridge, but rather than put his feet up in the off season or head away on holidays, the England international has traveled from Southampton to London in order to pay his respects to those that died.

He’s also committed towards helping those that are in need.

The England international has vowed to help those people that have been left without proper housing because in his own words, he wants to make sure “they don’t leave the W11 post code. And remain on the emergency housing list,” he said via Twitter.

The left-back isn’t just donating money and returning to the south-coast, he’s actually staying in West London.

Bertrand will be at the Rugby Portobello Trust in Walmer Road on Monday and he won’t be leaving “until progress has been made.”

The Southampton defender is a true saint.