Belle Isle is a very large housing estate with 12,000 residents. The houses were built in the 1940s and early 1950s to re-house people moving out of the back-to-back houses being demolished in nearby Hunslet. The intention had been to create good quality houses with gardens in a healthy environment.

 

For over 20 years there was a long waiting list of people wishing to move into this much sought after area. However, by the 1980s this had changed to equally long waiting lists of people wishing to move out. High unemployment, poverty, lack of social facilities, vandalism, increasing crime rates and deteriorating housing conditions all served to create a spiral of decline. The older population of Belle Isle experienced all of these problems but they were exacerbated by families and friends moving away.

 

Eventually many of the residents decided to take collective action against this downward spiral. Supported by locally based neighbourhood workers employed by Social Services, a series of Tenants Associations was formed and action plans were drawn up. Local councillors gave strong support to the work and gradually resources started to come into the area.

 

In 1985 there had been a particularly cold winter coinciding with a raised public awareness of the dangers of hypothermia. Local residents and neighbourhood workers called a public meeting to discuss the needs of older people in the area. All of the local organisations and agencies were represented at this meeting, and there was an immediate shared determination to develop a preventative strategy aimed at providing community based support to older people. A new organisation was quickly established called "Belle Isle Elderly Winter Aid".

 

Initially the organisation consisted of volunteers supported by local neighbourhood workers, but a grant from Urban Programme funding provided the salary of a development worker. “Winter Aid" as it became known, set out to identify the problems being experienced by older people, ensure that they were receiving all of the local authority, health services and welfare benefits to which they were entitled and to create new services to tackle the unmet needs. Over a period of 5 years the organisation received further grants to employ more staff and develop a day centre and a series of practical community care support services. These included annual needs assessment visits, voluntary visiting for isolated people, carers support groups, gardening, decorating, improved home safety and security measures, grants towards winter fuel bills, housing insulation schemes, welfare benefits advice, bereavement work, newsletters, a handy person service and a bathing service.

 

History of Belle Isle Elderly Winter Aid