Trust Statement May 1st 2010

1st May 2010

BELFORD DEVELOPMENT TRUST

Following inaccurate reports in the local press about the status of the Belford Development Trust, the Trustees have decided to issue this statement in order to clarify these matters, and allay any fears or concerns about the future of the Development Trust.

In past years the Trust has, unfortunately, had to make use of an overdraft facility when funding applications have been unsuccessful. This continues to be the case but the Trustees would like to make everyone aware the overdraft has recently been significantly reduced.

During 2009, despite difficult times, the Trust has enjoyed some significant successes and is confident that it will continue to do so in the future.

Website. The Development Trust applied to the Belford Town Partnership Fund for money to develop and maintain the Belford Village website. This had been a long standing ambition of the Trust and thankfully that funding application was successful. The work was put out to tender and Steve Newman’s bid was accepted. To date there is sufficient funding from the grant to allow Steve to continue to work at his current level for approximately another 8 months. After that it is anticipated that his costs will be met through advertising revenue and further funding applications. The Trust is delighted with the website and proud that through its efforts Belford now has a dynamic and successful facility for the whole community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve for all his hard work and commitment to this project.

Disabled access. Funding was granted by the Government sponsored COMMA fund to install disabled access to the bank building. This work was successfully completed to the satisfaction of the funding body and within the appropriate timescale. The completed documentation was sent to the funders and a copy of this was posted on the Belford Development Trust page on the website for anyone to view.

French Market. During 2009 the Trust organised two further visits of the ever popular continental market, and it has proved to be so successful that a repeat visit has been arranged for Thursday 10th June 2010

Charity Shop. Looking forward to the future we continue in our fund raising efforts and have recently opened a charity shop in the Old Bank Building in order to raise funds and to attract people into the village. This project is still in its infancy but in the first two weeks has raised almost £100. We hope that people will continue to support our efforts and that this will become a well used facility for the benefit of the community.

War Memorial. Several years ago the Parish Council approached the Belford Development Trust with a request that we take on a project to raise funds in order to restore the War Memorial which had fallen into disrepair.

We agreed to do this and Ian Campbell, a Trustee at the time, worked tirelessly to raise the funds and complete the project on schedule. The fund raising was so successful that there was a surplus which was put into a ring fenced War Memorial Fund account. At the Develop Trust meeting on 15th February 2010 the Trustees decided that they no longer wished to manage this account and that the Parish Council would be approached and asked if they would now be willing to take responsibility for it.

Subsequently, a letter was sent to the Parish Council on 24th March advising of this decision. To date the Development Trust has not received a response to this letter but has made arrangements for the War Memorial Fund account to be closed and a cheque to be issued for the original sum plus interest, to be paid to the Parish Council. None of the current Trustees are signatories of this account, but two former Trustees, who are also Trustees of the Bank Building are kindly dealing with this matter on our behalf

The Future. The Trustees of the Development Trust and the Trustees of the Bank Building have decided to put the premises up for sale, to invest the proceeds and use the interest accrued, along with the proceeds of any other fund raising activities, to support village projects in order to comply with our constitution which states that the Development Trust’s purpose is to support the economic and social well being of the community of Belford and Middleton.

We are confident that the Belford Development Trust will continue to work for the benefit of the community, building on past successes and creating new opportunities. We trust that we can continue to rely on the support of the community in order to achieve our goals for the future.