The student survivor who shaped UK’s national terrorism memorial day

The idea for a national day for terror victims and survivors came about after a Home Office review, external found many needed more support.

But many who have campaigned for the day still feel more needs to be done to help survivors.

A report, released on Friday by the Survivors Against Terror (SAT), said while psychological support for victims had improved, no progress had been made to the state compensation scheme for terror victims, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

SAT’s co-founder Brendan Cox, whose wife MP Jo Cox was murdered by a neo-Nazi in 2016, welcomed the national day but warned “survivors also want it to be a moment of accountability”.

“We’re not talking large sums of money, we’re talking about a process that dehumanises people where if you’re a survivor of a terror attack, you can only claim for the first three injuries you have despite the fact you have 80 or 90 or 100 pieces of shrapnel in your body,” Cox said.

“At the moment we still have members who don’t have the resources to build a downstairs toilet following attacks that have left them struggling to walk,” added Lisa Ghiggini, who survived the Fishmonger’s Hall attack in 2019.

The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the taxpayer-funded scheme, where victims self-classify the type of incident, said £180m was paid out last year for all types of violent crime including terrorism.