The lifeblood of
TODAY we reach the Services to the Community category in our countdown to next Thursday’s Examiner Community Awards at the John Smith’s Stadium hosted by ITN newsreader Nina Hossain who comes from Huddersfield. The winner will be revealed on the night.
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the three finalists shortlisted in the Arts Award category.
As part of our ambition to continue attracting people to use buses we work hard to keep delivering value for money and high standards of service for all our customers by working in partnership with all our stakeholders across the region.
Our success and those of our local communities are hand-in-hand and we would like to wish good luck to everyone shortlisted for the First Huddersfield Services to the Community Award. COLIN Walker’s commitment to his community knows no bounds.
The 75-year-old became a volunteer walk leader in the Colne Valley back in 2002 after he had suffered a heart attack, encouraging people to exercise and meet others while enjoying our spectacular countryside.
The following year he set up the Marsden Short Health Walk for older people and trained other walk leaders. This has really helped to get people out and about, especially those who had become isolated in their own homes.
Colin, of Linthwaite, volunteers every week as a physical activity leader and motivator for Kirklees Active Leisure, helping classes for people needing rehabilitation after ill health.
He was nominated by Jo Booth, who said: “Supporting many local events, Colin is regularly seen sporting his high visibility jacket in managing traffic safety at the Marsden Jazz Festival, Cuckoo Day, Slaithwaite Moonrakers Festival, events held at Marsden Mechanics Hall, Imbolc fire festival and many more galas and fetes in the villages along the valley.”
For the last 10 years Colin has led the Friends of Slaithwaite Spa in their monthly gardening and tidying up of the park which has seen far more people using it.
He liaises with Kirklees Council to remove the litter in skips and get materials needed by the volunteers to keep the park looking so good.
Colin now sits on the committee helping to organise events and raise funds to pay for bulb planting, repairing fences and walls.
Jo added: “Colin is frequently found in the park removing piles of leaves, trimming hedges and shrubs and working above and beyond to improve our community. He does it all in a quiet and unassuming way.”
All this – and Colin moved here from Coventry.
Jo added: “The Colne Valley is not Colin’s first home yet he is very much a part of it and I believe we are a stronger community as a result of all that he has generously given.”
Colin said: “Around two-third of the vessels in my heart are working so I can’t do anything too strenuous.
“I just wanted to give something back to the community after benefiting from health walks myself, and it all snowballed from there.”
Colin is married to Carol and the couple have one son, Andrew. Judi Thorpe (second right) with some of her fellow volunteers, Cath Elliott (left), Ann Nulty and Jon Robinson at The Cuckoo’s Nest, Marsden CHARITY shops can be the lifeblood for their communities ... and this is certainly the case in Marsden.
For the village has not one but two of them on its main street staffed by up to 50 unpaid volunteers and have raised well over £500,000 since 2001.
The shops on Peel Street are open five days a week and the colossal amount of money they have raised has all gone to local organisations.
They do this through a grant-giving process twice a year which help groups and people involved in everything from sport to the arts and social needs.
Judi Thorpe, now 77, set up the shop when she retired and is still working there.
She said: “At the time there were similar shops in Crosland Moor and Slaithwaite, so I thought why not set one up in Marsden? I had worked for Oxfam so was well into charity shops.”
She revealed the first shop was helped by a £4,500 grant from the European Social Fund.