'There's no friend like a sister': Siblings reunited by chance at South Tyneside care home

Two sisters met purely by chance at a South Tyneside care home after falling out of contact for several years.

Jenny Baker and Belle Fosters recently moved into Bedewell Grange care home in Hebburn.

The siblings had last seen each other in 2014 for the older sister Belle's 90th birthday party.

Now they live on the same floor and they spend lots of time catching up over coffee and a cake together.

Jenny says: “It is so wonderful to find my big sister again after all these years and to be able to spend so much time together, we are so happy. Sisters are the best kind of friends - there's no friend like a sister."

Rebecca Travis, General Manager at Bedewell Grange, comments: “We are so delighted for Jenny and Belle, it was such a special moment when they were reunited again.

"Now they are inseparable, chatting away – making up for lost time! We are just so happy we were able to bring them back together.”

Belle moved into Bedewell Grange in April 2019 and Jenny arrived at the end of November.

Growing up close in Felling, the sisters were confidants despite their age gap.

The younger sister always looked up to the older one, and when Belle was married, Jenny felt very close to her and her family.

Jenny was bridesmaid for Belle and remembers wearing a beautiful pink dress and when Belle had her first son, Colin, Jenny was 10 and developed a very close relationship with him.

Jenny loved her job working as a civil servant at the Ministry of Labour in Newcastle. She worked there from leaving school until she retired while big sister Belle worked in the sweet factory at Team Valley until she had her sons.