Our charity, Bell View, was formed by local residents in 1998, in response to Northumberland County Council’s plans to close the Belford based residential care home.  The decision to close the care home was strongly resisted by the community  as people felt that older people should be able to remain in their local community and not be forced to move away when their care and support needs increased. 

The community lobbied and campaigned and although the decision to close the care home was followed through, the charity was gifted the site so that new services for older people could be developed, from a ‘community’ perspective and in response to local need.

The first major project was to secure funds and partnership support to transform the former residential  care home (that had started life as a Victorian workhouse) into a purpose built Community Resource Centre and housing project for older people.

The Resource Centre opened in 2005 and acts as a hub for delivering a wide range of health and social care services and activities.   In January 2008, the charity purchased an older person’s day-care business and established a new social enterprise ‘Bell View Care’ Ltd and in 2013 established ‘Bell View Help at Home’ Ltd to deliver home care.

Much has changed in the last 25 years…