BELFORD DEVELOPMENT TRUST

(Soon to become Belford Community Trust Ltd.)

The Trustees propose to use part of the £60.000* left from the sale of the Bank Building to buy the former Spar building in the High Street. The cost will be between £35,000 and £40,000 which will cover the purchase and necessary alterations. (*This amounts to £61,000 left clear after legal fees etc were paid, the £6000 loan is repaid and £1000 is kept in reserve for Belford Carnival Fund should such an organisation be re-established). The Trust also plans to keep a “buffer” of several thousand pounds for financial security.

Once ready it will become the Belford Community Shop which will include the popular charity shop formerly in the Bank Building. The shop will become a focal point for fund raising activities of other organisations, all will benefit from a prominent High Street location.

In brief the benefits are:

• Net receipts will be far greater than interest earned from placing funds in a savings account
• These funds will be available to support village projects
• The village will own a High Street property which, in time, will increase in value
• The current covenant placed on the shop by the Co-op ceases to be in 2016 at which point the shop will be able to trade in any goods
• Local organisations will be able to use the building and thereby have a prominent location for fund raising and awareness raising activities
• The successful Charity Shop will be re-opened using part of the available space
• The appearance of the building will be much improved (grants for this will be applied for)
• Information and displays in the building will be of interest to both locals and visitor
• It will be a positive example of our community working together

Please register your view by clicking here to download a copy of this letter and ticking your response.  Please return your response to 35 High Street by 10th October.

In Belford we now have a number of ways of promoting business and events, imparting news and information, also recording activities.  This is provided by two websites, a local magazine, notices and a a Facebook page all supplying similar information to residents.

Therefore the Development Trust has decided to take the opportunity to change the focus of the Belford Village website to provide information to a wider regional/national/international audience.  The aim of the site will be to promote local business and amenities to potential visitors.

All business advertisers who are using the site at the end of July will remain there for a 3 year period at no extra cost.

Any current advertiser not wishing to be included after July will recieve a refund of 50% of their 2011 payment.

For latest community news and events follow us on Twitter (@BelfordVillage).