Many happy returns! Huddersfield Hub is one-year-old today and what a journey it has been.

Journalists Martin Shaw and Steven Downes teamed up in the midst of lockdown to launch Huddersfield Hub on February 7 2021.

At the time there was lots of doom and gloom around and we wanted to spread positivity, kindness and hope.

Huddersfield Hub is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company set up to provide a platform for the local community to share their news, information and activities.

As the mainstream media moves away from traditional-style news, Huddersfield Hub aimed to focus on quality journalism and tell the stories that matter to local people. We don’t do breaking news – we want to break GOOD news.

We offered a new, fresh and vibrant platform for local news, business and grassroots sport. What makes us different is that we’re a POSITIVE news website.

That doesn’t mean we just do ‘happy’ news because we don’t. Instead, we are POSITIVE. Our stories may be probing and hard-hitting at times but that’s what journalists should be doing – exploring, challenging, questioning and explaining to the public about what’s going on.

We want to create a serious and sensible debate. We want to make a POSITIVE difference.

Huddersfield is a great town with lots to be POSITIVE about but that often gets lost in the media noise. We want to highlight all the good work that goes on in our communities.

Huddersfield doesn’t shout loudly enough about all the POSITIVES. There’s so much brilliant stuff going on that goes under the radar. We want to shed a light on the unsung heroes, the selfless volunteers, community groups, the charities large and small and the hard-working business community.

There are some world-class businesses in Huddersfield but there’s also some incredible small businesses too.

We love small businesses and we want to tell their stories to inspire others. Huddersfield Hub is a great platform to support local businesses, backed up by thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

We couldn’t do what we do without our sponsors. Our main sponsor is Big Red Construction, a real Huddersfield success story under managing director Mike Lomas, a former student at the University of Huddersfield.

Then there’s two of Huddersfield’s best-known community-focused companies Syngenta and Stafflex, which both put their faith in Huddersfield Hub at an early stage. Both have renewed their sponsorship with us.

Mike Lomas

Mike Lomas said: “Huddersfield Hub has provided a great platform for the local community and it’s shining a light on all the great work that goes on, often unseen and unrecognised.

“Huddersfield is an amazing place to live, work and do business and we need to be positive about the town and shout about the opportunities we have here for people to build a life and raise a family.

“I hope the business community will do all they can to help Huddersfield Hub build on their first anniversary and help them go from strength to strength. We need to support our community and be positive about the future, and that’s what Huddersfield Hub is all about.”

Nemi Alexis, marketing manager at Stafflex, said: “Huddersfield Hub’s values of keeping the community at the heart of what they do perfectly aligns with our way of thinking. Stafflex has a strong belief that local businesses should support their community.

“Huddersfield Hub has a strong emphasis on positive stories, which is refreshing and extremely beneficial for the town.

“We were delighted to renew our sponsorship for another 12 months and we look forward to continuing to build a strong working relationship.”

Huddersfield town centre surrounded by greenery

Huddersfield Hub’s other valued sponsors are Kirklees Council’s Fostering Service, Impact Education Multi-Academy Trust, Huddersfield BID, Beanie Media and the Packhorse Centre.

Also vital to our success is the sponsorship and support provided by PR and communications agencies Scriba PR, Wild PR, Faith PR and A-H PR. We couldn’t do it without you guys!

Special thanks, too, go to Tom Coates for all his creativity and hard work and Sian Patrick for her patience and behind-the-scenes graft.

We’ve also got a brilliant photographer in Holme Valley-based Sean Doyle and a small band of writers including Andy Hirst, Brian Hayhurst, Ateeq Hussain and Gordon the Gardener.

They all bring a different perspective to our content and we thank each one of them for their hard work and support.

Thanks too to all the volunteers at our local sports clubs and leagues who keep us up-to-date with their news and submit match reports and pictures. There’s too many of you to mention by name but thanks for all you do.

Huddersfield Hub is completely free for readers to access but if you love what we do and want to support us over the next 12 months you can take out a subscription at just £2.99 a month and become a Patron or make a one-off donation. For more details click HERE or email martin@huddersfieldhub.co.uk or steven@huddersfieldhub.co.uk.

Thanks everyone for your support.