A group of homes given to the people of Marsden by an esteemed former Huddersfield Philharmonic musician will today change hands after the board of trustees looking after them retired.

The six almshouses at High Lea were acquired by the charity, Eleanor Moorhouse Trust, in 1985 and will now be managed by Kirklees-based Sadeh Lok Housing Group to save it from an ‘uncertain future.’

The trust was formed upon a request in the will of Ms Moorhouse, who was one of three prosperous sisters born in the village and died in 1985, which asked that her wealth be used for the good of the local community.

Colne Valley councillor, Donna Bellamy had raised concerns about what she saw as a lack of communication with current tenants about the transfer. Eight tenants currently live in the homes.

But one of the trustees, Richard Turner – whose father, Gordon, set up the trust – said this wasn’t the case.

He said that all residents had been made aware of the plans and that they would notice no change under the care of the housing association, whose own mission statement says that it exists to ‘support dis-empowered communities’.

He said: “We decided to transfer management and the role of trusteeship to Sadeh Lok for the sake of the trust and the move will be of benefit to the community.

“Sadeh Lok offered us a lifeline at a time that the trust had an uncertain future and this move means that the trust will continue to exist and be registered with the Land Registry and Charity Commission.

“All the tenants have been informed of the change, all have secure tenancy agreements and the original aims and objectives of the trust will be continued, including the main aim of providing low cost housing to elderly people.”

A spokeswoman from Sadeh Lok, said: “We have no intention to do anything different to how the homes are already run and hopefully the residents will get a better service under our management and with 24-hour call-out emergency repairs”

Eleanor, along with her parents and sisters Eunice and Kathleen, are believed to be buried in St Bartholomew’s Church yard.