Annual Report of

the Bel Air Home

2007 – 2008
 The 2007- 2008 Annual Report of
The Bel Air Home for Children and Adolescents
Grenada, West Indies

1. Introduction
1.1 This is the tenth Annual Report of the company and,
as in previous years, is being published towards the
end of the third quarter of the calendar year.
1.2 The audited accounts for 2007-2008 are an integral
part of this report and are appended to this written
report.

2. The Company
2.1 There are nine Ordinary Members of the Company.
They are the Directors listed in para 2.2, plus Mr. A.P.
Ross, Mrs. M. E. Ross, Ms. Lisa Taylor and Ms.
Karen Samuel. In addition, Mr. Paul Thomas was
elected as an Ordinary Member of the Company
during the course of the year.
2.2 The Directors elected at the Annual General Meeting
in October 2007 were:-
President Mrs L.E. Grey-Beliaeff MBE.
Vice-PresidentMs. C. Alexis
Treasurer Mrs. M. Byer
Secretary Mr. Clement Gabriel

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2.3 Sister Francis Nelson is a Director of the Company,

appointed by St. George’s University.

3. Staff
3.1 During the period covered by this report, the staff
numbered twenty two and comprised:- Home
Manager, Deputy Manager/Educational Needs Co-
ordinator, Home Co-ordinator, Assistant Home Co-
ordinator, Adolescent Development Programme
Workers (5), Nursery Co-ordinator, Nursery Workers
(8), Cook, Laundress/Cleaner, part-time Gardener,
and Administrative Assistant. Towards the end of the
period of this report there were some changes in
staffing. The Home Manager and two staff members
resigned, but those left pulled together and continued
to function in the best interest of the children.
3.2 During the period of this report First Aid Refresher
courses were held, the staff also benefited from hands
on training by Ms. Gilly Martin from London, on
how to work with children with special needs. Ms.
Christie John-Baptiste and colleagues of Support A
Nation, London did a one week course for staff on
Basic Child Care Awareness. Thanks is given to
Child Welfare Authority, who organized a training
session in conjunction with the Grenada Bureau of
Standards, Grenada Red Cross and Ms. Margot
Holas, Marital and Family Therapist/Mental Health
Counsellor.

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 3.3 The Directors are pleased to place on record their
appreciation and gratitude to all the staff members
who worked at Bel Air during the year. The
professionalism of the staff is evident in the
behaviour of the residents of Bel Air. Special mention
and appreciation of the work of Ms. Sharon Davis,
Manager, and Ms. Alison Greene, Deputy Manager, is
recorded.

4. Finance
4.1 The audited accounts for the year July 1st 2007 to
June 30th 2008 are attached to this report. Special
thanks is given to Mr. Henry Joseph of PKF for
undertaking this task on an honorary basis. Mr.
Stalker, who has carried out this essential function
every year since the Home was established in 1998,
has finally retired.
4.2 The Directors express gratitude to the Trustees of St.
George’s University for their continued generous
contribution of EC$133,000 per annum paid on a
monthly basis towards the running costs of the Home.
4.3 Gratitude is expressed also to the Government of
Grenada for continuing the subvention of EC$ 80,000
for the year. The Directors acknowledge the many
competing claims on Government revenues and thank
the Government accordingly.
4.4 The Directors thank those members of the local
community and business houses for the support,
financially and in kind, that they provided during the
period covered by this report.

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4.5 The Friends of Bel Air (UK) continued to provide

significant support to Bel Air during the year. The
Directors thank especially Ms. Julia Montgomery and
her fellow trustees for their selfless service in
maintaining this vital financial lifeline. Thanks also to
Ms. Anne Lynch who provides the administrative
support that is essential to this trust and to Mr. David
Dutton, whose financial support of Bel Air includes
the time that Ms. Lynch works on the business of the
Friends.
4.6 In line with the Directors decision to maintain a
reserve fund for contingency purposes, Bel Air has
approximately EC$104,000 on deposit with one of
the major local firms.
4.7 The Directors are very grateful to Dr. Beverly Nelson,
Dr. Jennifer Isaac, Dr. Lutz Amechi, Dr. Hage and
Ms. Lisa Taylor for their professional services that
were provided free of charge during the period of this
report.

5. Residents
5.1 During the twelve months covered by this report, 49
children resided at Bel Air. On 30th June 2008, there
were 32 children resident at Bel Air, 15 in the
Nursery and 17 adolescent girls.
5.2 There have been 20 admissions during the year and
10 discharges, of whom four were reunited with their

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 biological families, and six were transferred to the
Emergency Shelter.
5.3 The Nursery continues to operate at full capacity. The
development of two of our most seriously physically
challenged children continued to improve, thanks
largely to the seconded Danish students (see 6.1
below)
5.4 One recent resident of Bel Air passed the Common
Entrance Examination in 2008. The other children
continue to show improvement in their academic
studies. Congratulations to these children and
particularly to Ms. Alison, staff and community
volunteers.
6. Achievements
6.1 Bel Air is proud of its continued approval as an
appropriate training partner for social education
student training by the Skovtofte National Institute
for Social Education in Denmark. We had the fifth
group comprising four students during the end of the
year and we are expecting the sixth group of five
students in August. The Directors of Bel Air
appreciate this ongoing partnership with the Institute.
6.2 Bel Air’s Suzuki Super Carry mini-van is working
well and we are grateful to Mr. La Hee and staff of
Geo. F. Huggins for donating and fitting us with new
tyres on two occasions. We are ever grateful, as our
vehicle has given the Home greater flexibility in its
day to day running.

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6.3Students and Significant Others from St George’s

University continue to take the adolescents and the
children from the Nursery to the beach. This is
appreciated greatly. Many continue on an individual
basis to donate gifts to the children. Special mention
should be made of Rachael Smith and the Veterinary
Students Association who gave much of their time
and resources, to the benefit of the residents. A
number of St George’s University Pre-med students
have completed their Community Service module at
Bel Air.

7. Moving On
7.1 We are pleased to report that the “Moving On”
Project is finally moving on. We have received the
permission of the Grenada Airports Authority to use
the land for the project. The lot has since been
cleared and plans and drawings have been submitted.
Due to the present economic situation, Bel Air needs
to source new funding.

8. Update
8.1 Mr. and Mrs. Ross, who have been Directors of the
company since it was incorporated in 1998, have now
relocated to South Africa. New directors were
elected at the Annual General Meeting held in
October 2007. (see 2.2 above)

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8.2 We are looking forward to the continued support of
all our donors and would appreciate any other persons
or businesses willing to commit to helping with long-
term funding of Bel Air Home.
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