FOLIO Sutton Coldfield

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield is recruiting two new trustees to join our Board!

You can find full details below or in our downloadable (pdf) recruitment pack.

Closing date for applications: 8 October 2021 (5pm)
Interviews: 2 November (evening)

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield is a Registered Charity (No. 1175929, registered in England and Wales). We formed from a community group of Sutton Coldfield residents who wanted to see our public libraries not just survive, but thrive at the heart of our community.

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield runs an extensive programme of events and activities, designed with the intention that everyone will find something that might appeal to them. The events are generally held in Sutton Coldfield Library and encourage people to visit the library and use its services.

Our constitution sets out our ‘objects’, which are “The advancement of education for the public benefit in the area served by public libraries which are based in the constituency of Sutton Coldfield, without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or politics, religious or other opinions, in particular but not exclusively by: (a) supporting and promoting the current library service in Sutton Coldfield; (b) facilitating educational courses and events in libraries and through library outreach.”

We have thought about what these ‘objects’ mean in everyday language:

Our vision is to help create an inspired and cohesive local community, passionate about reading and learning, which enjoys and engages with library services.

Our mission is to offer inspirational and transformational activities for the community to learn, interact and thrive, through engagement with local library services.

Our values are that we will be:

Welcoming:
We reach out and welcome people in
We are respectful and inclusive
We engage fully with participants, funders and partners

Imaginative:
We provide activities/events which are meaningful for the participants
We offer activities/events which enrich library services
We create a “wow” factor

Community-focused:
We involve our local community and the wider community
We collaborate with a diverse group of stakeholders to deliver a variety of activities/events together
We offer a wide range of activities/events that will appeal to different sections of our community

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield raises funds to host events and facilitate projects within or in support of the public libraries in Sutton Coldfield. While our activities have been hampered over the last 18 months, due to the coronavirus pandemic, previously we were, on average, putting on 2-4 events a week, from code clubs and creative writing workshops to den building and messy play, local history talks, school and adult workshops and a whole host of author and illustrator workshops. These events have ensured increased footfall to Sutton Coldfield Library, a raised awareness of all the library service has to offer and an increased passion for our local library service. During the pandemic, we have been offering digital and some ‘offline’ activities, some ‘in-person’, when restrictions permit, in line with national and local requirements and the results of our own assessments of risk.

We have raised in excess of £120,000 through grants since we were formed and are widely considered a key local community group. Feedback from our events since the start of 2020 included the following comments:

“It was a once in a lifetime experience, so much fun.”

“[The best bit was] Seeing so many happy people loving being in a library – so many people finding corners to read and share stories in, inspired by sessions they had just attended. It was an amazing atmosphere, a brilliant event, bringing people together.”

“It was so lovely to have a fun, buzzy, local book event for my two year old. Seeing her so happy was great!”

“This was inspirational for my 8 year old who loves reading and writing.”

“Thank you ever so much for organising such a fantastic event and inspiring children to read and have a passion for books. It was absolutely brilliant!”

“An amazing inspirational event that has encouraged my FASD child to read.” (FASD = Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder)

“It could hardly be classed as ‘work’ when it’s such an enjoyable thing to do.” [on volunteering at a FOLIO event]

“Thank you for organising these events which have brightened an evening during these difficult days of lockdown.”

“The online sessions have worked brilliantly, although I’m also looking forward to some face-to-face events as well. Many thanks to you and Folio for enabling a real sense of community under such difficult circumstances.”

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield – our current situation

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield has a Board of Trustees, currently with four members:

Chair – Zoe Toft
Treasurer – Jenny Wilkinson
Acting Secretary – Liz Parry
Trustee (with special responsibility for volunteers) – Noran Flynn

You can read more about FOLIO Sutton Coldfield and our work here on our website – please use the menu items above to navigate around.

You can get a sense of our community on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/FOLIOSuttonColdfield/

Here is FOLIO’s entry on the Charity Commission website:
https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5104330

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield – where we want to be

As is the case with many young / small charities, at FOLIO Sutton Coldfield our Board of Trustees is not only responsible for the governance of the charity, but additionally we carry out most of the day-to-day running of the charity, from writing funding applications, managing projects, creating publicity materials for FOLIO and delivering/stewarding at events. In addition to our Board of Trustees we have a body of around 30 volunteers who assist with events on an ad hoc basis.

As part of our strategic vision for the next five years we want to move to a model where FOLIO has a significantly increased body of volunteers enabling us to deliver more events, a small team of paid staff who will be responsible for the operational side of FOLIO, and an expanded Board of Trustees who can focus on strengthening the charity’s governance. All of this will significantly enrich FOLIO, ensuring that the flying start we have got off to as a charity can be maintained and our sustainability is ensured.

To assist us in our transformation we are seeking to recruit two new trustees to our board, one of whom will be appointed as our Secretary.

In parallel with this, we are also have an application currently under consideration with a grant awarding body which would fund a paid part-time project manager to support us in providing an exciting and varied programme of events as well as fund-raising and running the charity.

Who are we looking for?

First and foremost we are looking for enthusiastic people keen to make a real difference to the local community in Sutton Coldfield by playing an active role in enhancing our existing dynamic team. A can-do, creative and positive approach is essential. Previous board experience is not necessary. We are very keen to increase the diversity of our Board of Trustees and will work to ensure we are fully inclusive. We welcome applications from everybody.

We are keen to recruit young people (16+), current or retired librarians/library assistants, those with experience of working in an education setting (not limited to schools), those with experience of working in the arts and people with commercial/business experience. 

If you have skills in IT, fundraising/income generation, charity law, finance or helping organisations evolve, you’ll be able to make a particularly valuable contribution to FOLIO Sutton Coldfield. Recruiting to the role of Secretary is a key priority for the board. Please see below for the Secretary Role Specification.

We can offer trustee training and support, as well as a comprehensive induction. Trustees are unpaid volunteers but we can cover your expenses.

Trustees are expected to attend monthly board meetings. These normally take place from 7.30pm to 9.30pm and are usually on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. Over recent months, we have been meeting virtually, via Zoom, but we expect to move to alternating between virtual and in person meetings from the autumn. In person meetings will be in or around central Sutton Coldfield.

During our period of transition, as we move from a model where trustees do much of the operational work to one where FOLIO has a small number of staff, we also ask trustees to steward at up to four FOLIO events during the year (chosen to align with your particular interests). This is a great way to experience FOLIO’s work and meet library users and others who attend our events.

The closing date for expressions of interest in becoming a trustee of FOLIO Sutton Coldfield is 5pm on Friday, 8 October 2021. Interviews will be held from 7.30pm on Tuesday, 2 November in the library in central Sutton Coldfield.

If you’d like to have an informal conversation about becoming a trustee, please feel free to contact our Chair, Zoe Toft, on chair@foliosuttoncoldfield.org.uk

If you’d like to find out more about what it means to be a charity trustee in general these links will help you:

https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/guide/become-trustee
https://knowhow.ncvo.org.uk/governance/getting-started-in-governance/trustees
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/charity-trustee-whats-involved

Dates for remaining Board of Trustee meetings in 2021:

21 September, 7.30pm – online
20 October, 7.30pm – in person
16 November, 7.30pm – online
21 December, 7.30pm – in person

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield has a Code of Conduct for its trustees which you can read here: https://foliosuttoncoldfield.org.uk/policies/

Trustees are appointed for an initial term of three years with the option to renew thereafter. You can read our Constitution (our Governing Document) here.

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield requires all trustees to hold a full DBS certificate. This does not need to be in hand at time of application; should you be invited to join FOLIO’s Board of Trustees we will meet the cost of a DBS check.

There are certain legal constraints on who can stand as a trustee. For full details please read the section “Trustee eligibility and responsibility” on this form: https://bit.ly/2KhNSJf

If invited to join FOLIO’s Board of Trustees you will be asked to formally confirm that you are legally eligible to be a charity trustee.

Trustee – Role Specification

Trustee responsibilities:



Additional Role Specification for Secretary

In addition to the above, the Secretary has the following specific responsibilities:

Trustee – Person specification

Specific skills and experience relating to the trustee role: 




Personal qualities



Specific skills and abilities

How to apply 

Please send us a statement (maximum 500 words) about why you want to be a trustee of FOLIO Sutton Coldfield and what you think you are able to offer to the charity. We are interested hearing about your relevant experiences, whether in work or as a volunteer. Please indicate if you would be specifically interested in the Secretary role.

Please include the names and details for one referee who will not be contacted until after a successful interview. The statement should be sent by email to Zoe Toft on chair@foliosuttoncoldfield.org.uk with the subject: Trustee Expression of Interest.

All applicants are strongly encouraged to meet informally with FOLIO trustees before they submit their statement. Please do come and chat to us at one of our events in September:

Elderberries in Sutton Coldfield Library
9 September 10.30-11.30am

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall Community Fete
12 September 11-6pm
Come and say hello to FOLIO at our stall

Telling Sutton’s Stories at Banner’s Gate Community Hall
14 September 1.30-4.30pm

Holy Trinity Heritage Open Day
18 September 11-3pm
Come and say hello to FOLIO at our stall

Sutton Coldfield BID Expo
25 September 9-5pm
Come and say hello to FOLIO at our stall. NB This event is on the Parade outside the Gracechurch Centre.

If you are not able to attend any of these dates but would still like to meet informally with FOLIO trustees please get in touch by emailing Zoe Toft on chair@foliosuttoncoldfield.org.uk

The closing date for expressions of interest is 5pm on Friday 8 October 2021.

Interviews will take place in the evening of November 2nd in the library in central Sutton Coldfield.

Please let us know if you will require any adjustment because of any disability should you be called for interview.

Queries 

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information or would like to have an informal discussion, please contact Zoe Toft on chair@foliosuttoncoldfield.org.uk

If you would like to support FOLIO Sutton Coldfield but decide that applying to become a trustee is not for you there are several other ways you can support our charity. You can:

As regular FOLIO followers will know, we have an ongoing relationship with Dr Agnes Kaposi, who we first met in January this year thanks to our collaboration with Echo Eternal in their Horizon’s festival.

Agnes was born in Hungary and started school just at the outbreak of World War II. Many of her family were murdered in the Holocaust, together with half of million other Hungarian Jews. A series of fortunate coincidences allowed Agnes to survive the ghetto, deportation and slave labour in Nazi concentration camps.

After the war Agnes’s native country fell under a tyrannical communist regime. The 1956 Hungarian revolution offered her the opportunity to escape, settle in Britain, and build a career, becoming a distinguished member of the engineering profession.

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield has pledged to share Agnes’s testimony and work towards increasing community knowledge about the Holocaust through public events and library resources. As part of this commitment each month we share an short piece from Agnes, exploring one aspect or experience from her life.

This month’s window into Agnes’s life takes us back to the early months back in Budapest after the end of the Second World War.

These days Újpest is a district of Greater Budapest, but when I was a girl, it was a town in its own right, a few miles from the centre of Hungary’s capital Budapest. Újpest had been founded in the 19th century by Jewish craftsmen who were not allowed to live and work in Budapest, but could settle outside of the city boundaries and transport their goods downriver to sell them in the capital. Újpest soon grew to be one of the main industrial centres of the country. Before World War 2, of Újpest’s 100,000 inhabitants, 20,000 were Jews.

All but a thousand of Újpest’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. When the war ended, disoriented Jews drifted back from the camps, skeletal and sick, many with numbers tattooed on their arm. Some found one or two members of their family, but most were alone, children without parents and siblings, mothers without husbands and children. There were as many sorrowful stories as people.

I was 12 years old at the time, just back from the camps, homeless, hungry, newcomer to the town, one of only three Jews in the school, the only Jew in my class. My classmates did not want to know me. Some of the teachers made it clear that they hated Jews, and would have preferred if none of them had survived.

In other schools, in workshops, in places of work, stray Jewish teenagers had similar experiences of rejection and hatred. A few met by chance. My father met the sole survivor of a large family, a Jewish boy of 14, and took him home to share our family’s meal of a plate of beans. My mum met a lone fifteen-year-old helping out in the market. Slowly-slowly, a group of some 30 youngsters gathered, the oldest 17, the youngest 11. None of us were religious Jews, our ages were dissimilar, we had contrasting social and economic status, diverse aspirations and different cultural backgrounds. Under normal circumstances few of us would have met, let alone become friends, but these were exceptional circumstances. We had all experienced pain and suffering, and had something important in common: we had survived the Holocaust. We formed ourselves into a group of friendship and mutual support. Not being very imaginative, we called the group ‘Our Society’.

Our Society created a rich cultural and social background for its members. We organised lectures, debates, quiz games, chamber music groups, visits to such museums that had reopened, poker games with beans for stakes, rambles in the Buda hills, swimming galas in the Danube. One of us who grew up to become a journalist, regularly published Our Society’s News Sheet. Romances started up. To my surprise, handsome 16-year-old Janos took an interest in me. In due course four couples of Our Society married, among them Janos and me.

Hitler had not won.

If you missed last month’s piece from Agnes, and would like to read about how she and Janos got married, please click here.

You can find out much more about Agnes on her website, by borrowing her autobiography from the library, purchasing your own copy of her book, or by following her on Facebook.

Back in January this year we were very pleased to host Agnes Kaposi for several events as part of Echo Eternal’s Horizon’s festival.

Agnes was born in Hungary and started school just at the outbreak of World War II. Many of her family were murdered in the Holocaust, together with half of million other Hungarian Jews. A series of fortunate coincidences allowed Agnes to survive the ghetto, the deportation and slave labour in Nazi concentration camps.

After the war Agnes’s native country fell under a tyrannical communist regime. The 1956 Hungarian revolution offered her the opportunity to escape, settle in Britain, and build a career, becoming a distinguished member of the engineering profession.

At the start of this year FOLIO Sutton Coldfield pledged to share Agnes’s testimony and work towards increasing community knowledge about the Holocaust through public events and library resources. We were recently able to purchase a selection of books relating to Holocaust eduction and donate them to Sutton Coldfield Library as part of our commitment to our pledge, and now we are starting a monthly series, sharing aspects of Agnes’s life, not only her experience as a Jew, but also what it was like to live under the communist regime in Hungary. Agnes writes with great warmth and wit, and her message of tolerance and respect needs to be heard.

This month’s window into Agnes’s life takes us back 69 years to July 1952 and is, in her own words, the tale of marriage, communist style.

Janos and I met a few months after the war, when I was 12 and he 16. We married seven years later, after my first year at university. This was Hungary in the darkest days of the Stalinist regime.We planned a late July wedding. We also thought that a marriage ceremony would involve exchange of rings. The Registry Office advised that gold was a controlled substance. We were lucky: the only shop selling gold in the country was but 10 miles away, and the only items on sale were 6-carat wedding rings.

On the first Saturday of July, Janos and I went along to the gold shop, arm in arm, clutching our hard-earned money. We asked for a couple of rings. The smiley man behind the counter congratulated us on our marriage, and asked for our marriage certificate. We said we were not married yet, we wanted the rings for the marriage ceremony. The man stopped smiling. He said gold was a controlled substance, people could only buy rings on production of their marriage certificate. The purchase would be recorded to prevent anyone buying two sets of rings, intending to commit bigamy to profiteer with the gold. The walls had ears, so we left without a word.

The Registry office only worked on weekdays. We were allocated an 11 am slot on Thursday, 31st July, our parents, friends and family – whoever could get away from work – to attend. There was to be a simple meal afterwards in a small restaurant. – And then, like so many times before and after, the roof fell in.

My undergraduate course in engineering included compulsory Military Studies. In the summer break after my first year, on the 24th July, the state authorities sprung one of their frequent surprises. All students received a hand-delivered ‘Notification of New Course Regulations’: call-up papers, specifying the military barracks and the date when to report, at 5am sharp, to complement our studies with practical military training. The date was the 31st July. The date set for our wedding.

The wedding was off. Everyone cancelled their leave. My mother cried. My grandmother packed a rucksack with essentials, including knickers, bras, and smoked sausage. My aunt Terka baked a delicious walnut pie that would keep for weeks.

On the supposed day of my wedding it was already hot at 5 am when I reported for military service in the nearby village of Rákospalota, wearing a red-checked sleeveless shirt, shorts and hiking boots. The duty sergeant checked me in, and I joined a mixed crowd of students and conscripts. We stood for hours on the exercise yard, with our sacks on our backs. Karcsi, a gallant bulky recruit, offered to swap his little rucksack for my great big one.

Then the Commanding Officer appeared before us and called my name, and said ‘You are excused.’ I thought I was hallucinating in the heat. No explanation. I asked what he meant. He said ‘You are not required for military service. Go home.’

I started to walk in the blazing sun through this unfamiliar village, in the general direction of our home in Újpest. Suddenly I realised that I was still carrying Karcsi’s rucksack. I wondered if he would enjoy Terka’s pie, wearing my bras and pink knickers. By the time I got back to the barracks, the novices had been formed into neat columns, preparing to march out. The Commanding Officer could not believe his eyes; he thought I came to plead for re-admittance. He almost smiled at my explanation, got a little soldier to root out poor Karcsi to exchange the sacks, and there I was once again, back on the dusty street, walking towards Újpest, carrying a full load.

What to do?

Everyone was at work in distant parts of town. I should phone someone. Zigzagging along the road from phone box to vandalised phone box, I finally found one that worked. Miraculously I got through to Janos, and told him that I was somewhere in Rákospalota, having been dismissed from the army. He was calm as always and asked if I still wanted to get married. I said what did he think. He said I should make my way to the Registry Office, and he would do the same – we might still make it by 11 am.

We arrived with minutes to spare. The Registrar said he had had notification that the marriage was off, but he was willing to ignore that; however, we needed two witnesses. My father’s friend Erdős Feri (back from the war with frostbitten and amputated toes) and our Auschwitz survivor friend Marika worked in shops nearby. I fetched one, Janos the other. They asked no questions, downed tools, and came along.

Marika had the presence of mind to buy a bunch of flowers from a booth on the corner. The flowers were wilted in the heat, as we all were. A mucky street child followed us. Those present, in addition to the Registrar, were the groom and the witnesses in work clothes, the bride in a sweaty sleeveless shirt, shorts, and hiking boots, carrying a rucksack and a bouquet of flowers, and a barefooted child. We were late, so the ceremony had to be a bit more hurried than usual. The scruffy piece of paper here is our marriage certificate. Our names and occupations, and our witnesses’ names, are clearly legible. The street child’s name is not recorded.

If you’d like to learn more about Agnes’s life and experience you can borrow her autobiography from the library or purchase your own copy. You can also watch the interview we made with Agnes in January on YouTube.

This poem is one of the results of two workshops held by FOLIO Sutton Coldfield in January 2021, in conjunction with Echo Eternal. In these workshops we learned about and listened to Agnes Kaposi and her experience of the Holocaust. Writer Mandy Ross then turned the contributions by workshop participants into a poem which is read here by those who took part in the workshops.

This poem formed part of the light installation projected onto the clock tower at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall on Holocaust Memorial Day, 2021.

As a result of our workshops participants also created candles with their reflections on them, and put them up in their windows to “be the light”.

Our thanks go to Echo Eternal, Mandy Ross, Birmingham City Council, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall and Play and Learn Nursery all of whom supported this activities in various different ways.

February marks LGBT+ history month. This is a month-long celebration of LGBT+ history, art, culture, and LGBT+ rights. For those who may not identify into the LGBT+ community this is a great opportunity to learn.

We’ve been posting author and book suggestions over on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, but today we want to talk a little about names and words.

LGBT+ is an umbrella term to describe a vast array of identities related to both gender and sexuality. It is a term that includes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, however – not exclusively. LGBT+ also includes people who identify as queer, intersex, asexual, pansexual and many more.

Being part of the LGBT+ community is about far more than who you love, chose to date, or which gender you do or do not identify with. Being LGBT+ is just that, it is a community of people with a shared history with its own culture, history, and heritage. That is why the name or community someone identifies with is so important – because it often makes them who they are.

The great part about the LGBT+ acronym is that it also includes Allies – those who identify as straight (heterosexual) and support the LGBT+ community. As an ally, here are three important things that you can do straight off the bat to best support the LGBT+ community:

At FOLIO we want everyone to feel welcome at our events and would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to help us plan events or activities for those of us who identify as LGBT+ or as an LGBT+ ally.

If you are looking for a mindfulness activity, or want some LGBT+ history month content for home-schooling, download our pride flag colouring in. The image above might be a helpful reference. If you are unsure of what each love-heart means, you can read LGBT+ definitions on Stonewalls glossary here: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-advice/faqs-and-glossary/glossary-terms.

To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day FOLIO Sutton Coldfield, Echo Eternal and Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Hall are delighted to announce a collaborative response, as part of Horizons Festival, to this year’s theme: ‘Be the Light in the Darkness”.

On Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January 2021, between 6pm and 8pm, a key historic landmark in Sutton Coldfield, the clock tower at the Town Hall will be lit up with testimony and images of Holocaust survivor Agnes Kaposi. The clock tower will physically be a light in the darkness, with the installation providing opportunities to learn about and reflect upon the Holocaust.

FOLIO Sutton Coldfield recently established a new and on-going relationship with Agnes enabling Sutton residents to learn more about her experiences and to provide opportunities for everyone in the community to act and stand up to hatred and intolerance, as well as learning about the Holocaust and other genocides which have happened since, including in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Following workshops and an interview with Agnes earlier this month, FOLIO, Echo Eternal and the Town Hall Trust, with the support of Birmingham City Council and Play and Learn Nursery (who have provided electricity and a space to safely project the installation onto the clock tower), have come together to create a very public commemorative act, designed in conjunction with Agnes Kaposi.

**Due to current Coronavirus restrictions, please join us in commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day today by witnessing this installation from the safety of your own home**; the projection will be live streamed here on our Facebook page and a film recording made available afterwards.

Photo: Mike Wade