Thanks

The Marsden Village Directory began life as a question posed on the Marsden Business Forum over a year ago and it’s fair to say the project has been on something of a rollercoaster ride to get to this point.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank the Cuckoo’s Nest Committee and our previous Ward Councillors Harry McCarthy, Matthew McLoughlin and Beverley Addy for answering the call for essential funding not once, but twice. Numerous other funding bids were submitted elsewhere and rejected, so without their support the Marsden Village Directory simply wouldn’t exist. Thanks to Harry and Matthew for offering a sympathetic ear when needed too.

Rachel Thompson of ‘Not Another Social’ answered one of my early calls for help on the Marsden Facebook pages and has pretty much been our tech-lead ever since. Thank you Rachel for wholeheartedly embracing all we agreed at the start about the value of the public pound, enabling all the structural aspects to go from page to screen, juggling all of this as well as everything else you do and not giving up amid the various tech issues that have driven us both round the twist. Being able to laugh together has made all the difference.

A big thank you too to Liz Baker of Elizabeth Baker Photography for taking so many free and fab pictures of local businesses, many of which are featured in this Directory, returning to the exact same spot to take different versions of our home page shot and never once saying no when I sent her yet another list of general images I needed.

Thanks to Tom Lonsdale for supporting the idea of the Directory from Day One, helping organise so much of the Regeneration section and for writing any profile text I’ve asked him to. Appreciation too to the Marsden Community Trust for acting as co-applicants for all the funding bids and for their initial financial administrative assistance.

Next I’d like to thank Luc Bride, Kirklees Active Citizens and Places Officer, for being a friend of this endeavour from the beginning, encouraging, empathetic and pragmatic. I’m also grateful to Aaron Taylor, Voluntary and Community Liaison Officer at Kirklees, for answering so many questions to do with CICs, insurance etc.

Various members of the Marsden Business Forum have been particularly supportive as well, so warm thanks to Katie Thompson, Roxanne Jones, Yvette Barlow, Gary Godolphin, Pete Toon and Jane Whitham for all the interest they’ve taken and their practical help. Various contributors to the site also went out of their way to help move things forward including Jenny Hemming, Helen Haigh, Gordon McMinn, Sarah-Jo Dawson, Pat Sykes and Caroline Martin. Thanks to everyone who responded to my various Facebook pleas for information and photos too (Elaine Byram deserves a special mention for the latter). Every ounce of positivity has made a difference.

Estate agents Ryder and Dutton kindly sponsored our promotional posters, which I really appreciate.

And last but never least, thanks to my husband for putting up with me as this website has evolved from pieces of A3 paper with torn paper labels sellotaped all over them. It’s been a big part of our lives for a while now and his patience and generosity of spirit has, as ever, made all the difference.

Hannah Gill, June 2026

Marsden Village Directory Project Lead, Coordinator of the Marsden Business Forum and now surely in with a decent chance as one half of a reasonably prepared ‘Marsden on Mastermind’ team