Belinda Scarlett
Library Manager
Belinda (she/her) joined the Library in 2022 after working in collections management, exhibition development and engagement at the National Football Museum, Liverpool Archive Service and Sporting Heritage CIC. At the National Football Museum Belinda was responsible for the development of the women's football collection and delivering the strategic vision of the organisation to increase its representation of women in football. Belinda has a passion for collections development, improving representation in heritage collections and for building a heritage sector that works for and with working class people. Belinda holds at MA in Arts and Museums Management from the University of Salford where she was first introduced to the Working Class Movement Library. Belinda is responsible for day to day management of the library activities, the building and the collection and for delivering the strategic vision of the Board of Trustees.
belinda.scarlett@wcml.org.uk
Jane Taylor
Librarian
Jane joined the library staff in 2008 as part of project to work on organising and cataloguing the library collection. She became our permanent librarian at the end of that project and now works with the both the library and archives collections. Prior to coming to the Working Class Movement Library she worked as a librarian in a further education college, a trade union and in the voluntary sector.
jane.taylor@wcml.org.uk
Nathan Godfrey
Engagement and Events Coordinator
Nathan joined the library in January 2023 after spending a few years working at Salford community space Partisan Collective. Nathan manages the library's events programme, volunteer programme, community engagement projects and is responsible for communications. He has a keen interest in working class history and political education and is eager for the library to inspire a new generation of activists.
nathan.godfrey@wcml.org.uk
Naomi Buckley
Library Assistant
Naomi is the part time library assistant and supports researchers to use our collection. She also works on financial matters, membership and fundraising for the library. Naomi joined the library in 2023 having been a lecturer and senior manager in higher education for 15 years but started her career in the Probation service. She retains a part time lecturing role and is a keen gardener, helping out in the libraries beautiful gardens when she can.
naomi.buckley@wcml.org.uk
Amie Kirby
Project Coordinator - Big Flame
Amie Kirby (she/her) is a working class, queer, and disabled woman from Manchester. She was born and raised in Wythenshawe and now lives in Salford. Amie is interested in the intersection between grassroots activism, community relationship building, and the use of heritage material including archives and museum collections, as well as creative and artistic expressions, i.e. zine making. She comes to the Big Flame Project with a keen interest in making both archives and methods of organising accessible to young working class people like herself.
amie.kirby@wcml.org.uk
Seth Wheeler
Project Researcher - Big Flame
Seth Wheeler is a writer, researcher and artist. He has edited and contributed to Occupy Everything (2012, Minor Compositions), The Dictionary of Coronavirus Culture ( 2020, Repeater Books), In and Against the State ( 2021, Pluto Press), A Thousand Little Machines (2024, Agit Press) and Big Flame, Building Movements, New Politics (Forthcoming, Merlin Press) among many others. He is a founding editor of the workerist journal Notes from Below, and has participated in the international extra-parliamentary left for three decades. Alongside his research with the WCML's Big Flame project, he is a researcher in residence at MayDay Rooms and sits on the editorial board of the communist publishing house, Agit Press. His research interests include the international diffusion of Operaismo, histories of revolutionary working-class self-organisation and the relationship between party formation and working-class autonomy.
seth.wheeler@wcml.org.uk
Sam Ingleson
Chair of Trustees
Sam Ingleson has worked in the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology and since 2000 as a Senior Lecturer in the visual arts, working in socially engaged arts practice and creative education. In her current role as Associate Dean for Enterprise and Engagement, she is responsible for the development of external partnerships between the university and cultural and creative industries across Salford. The WCML Sam has been a trustee with WCML since 2020 as the University of Salford’s representative and was appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees in October 2022. Sam also leads the Fundraising and Stakeholder working group and is a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk and the Transformation Strategy Working Groups and the Collections Advisory Group. Sam is passionate about supporting the amazing Library, its building, the collection, its staff and volunteers through the work of the board. The Library plays a key role in the cultural heritage of Salford and beyond and continues to collect and document the working class campaigns and movements locally and nationally.
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Suzanne Humphries
Vice - Chair
Suzanne is a member of the trade union law firm, Thompsons Solicitors LLP. She grew up in North Manchester and has worked at the firm’s Manchester offices for over 30 years representing trade union members and victims of injury. Suzanne was introduced to the Working Class Movement Library by a trade union colleague and became a Trustee in March 2020. Suzanne is committed to the work of the Library and believes that; “It is such a privilege to be part of the WCML, to be able to contribute to the guardianship of its collection for the benefit and use of future generations. The Library is unique in its dedication to preserving the many layered story of the working class, both past and present, whose heritage doesn’t enjoy the prominence it deserves. Hopefully, together, we will go some way to changing this.” Suzanne is the Vice Chair of Trustees and a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk and the Transformation Strategy Working Groups.
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Dennis Maginn
Treasurer and Secretary
Dennis’ background is in local government. He served as NALGO Branch Secretary from 1973 until shortly after the union’s merger to form UNISON in around 1996, when he began took early retirement. In 2000 Dennis was approached by Ruth Frow and Peter Carter, who was the Trustees’ Secretary at the time. They asked him if he’d take a look at the Library’s accounts and before long, he had become the Treasurer for the ‘Friends of WCML’, as they were known at the time. Ruth set up what was known as a ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ to discuss the development of the Library and this led to Dennis writing a constitution for the organisation and to him leading the move away from the concept of ‘Friends’ to the development of ‘Trustees’ and a more formal standing for the charity. There was then no looking back, Dennis recalls that “I was responsible for securing a project planning grant to enable WCML to appointment its first Library Manager and for encouraging Maxine Peake, a longstanding supporter of the Library, to become a fellow Trustee. She graciously agreed to join the Board and her continued contribution is invaluable to the Library and its ongoing success. Dennis has been at the core of everything at WCML for almost 25 years now. For much of this time he served as Chair of the Board of Trustees and Treasurer, holding responsibility for the accounts and the returns to Companies House and the Charity Commission. Dennis leads the Finance, Audit and Risk Working group and is a member of the Transformation Strategy Working Groups.
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Les Doherty
Assistant Treasurer
Les has worked in the field of Trade Union Education for over 30 years. Over this time, he has been involved in the training and development of workplace union representatives across all sectors of the economy. He is currently based in Stockport. His involvement with the Working Class Movement Library goes back many years to being a supporter of its work and outlook and then, since March 2021, as a Trustee. Les is the Assistant Treasurer. He is a co-leads the Audiences, Engagement and Collections Working Group and is a member of the Transformation Strategy. His work as a Trade Union Education Lecturer compliments the trustee role and has enabled Les to introduce local trade union Workplace, Health & Safety and Learning Representatives to the library archives and resources to develop their knowledge and understanding of the significance of these materials and their significance within the labour movement and to encourage their participation in the work of the library
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Bob Kelly
Trustee
Bob’s first contact with WCML came when he was studying for his history degree in the early nineties. The Library was invaluable in providing him with primary resources for his dissertation on the Unemployed Workers Movement. However, it was following Bob's involvement in the North West TUC History Group that he was invited to become a Trustee, about 9 years ago. At the time he was working as a tutor in Trade Union Education for Wirral Metropolitan College. Whilst at the college he taught trade union history courses for several years and conducted Radical History Walks around Liverpool. Bob's current job is Regional Education Organiser for Unison, providing activist and member education for 180,000 members across North West England.
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Lynn Collins
Trustee
Lynn has been a Trustee of WCML since 2014, joining in her capacity as the Regional Secretary of the TUC in the North West. She has been a trade union official for 33 years, latterly in senior roles and is am currently a Director of the Royal College of Midwives. Lynns primary role at WCML has been to engage trades unions with the work of the Library. Over the years this has included hosting events and undertaking direct fundraising work with our trade unions. Lynn is a member of the Fundraising and Stakeholder working group.
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Hazel Roberts
Trustee
Hazel is an artist and Educator based in Manchester. She has worked in further education for over 20 years as both a graphic designer and lecturer in art and design. The foundations of her creative practice lie firmly in exploring the narratives and commonalities of working class history and through her vocational practices she can introduce art students to that history and the constant struggle to give our hidden voices a platform to be celebrated. Hazel has been a Trustee of the Working Class Movement Library since 2020 and is a member of the Transformation Strategy co leads the Audiences, Engagement and Collections Working Group which is committed to developing strategies to engage new audiences and to develop new relationships. I was also really pleased to be able to contribute artistically by creating the new brand identity for the library, which is in line with its current outlook. As a Trustee I am committed to using my knowledge and experience to further cement the Library’s position within our working class communities and within the wider trade union and labour movement.
trustees@wcml.org.uk
Andy Pearce
Trustee
Andy has 40 years’ experience in the museums and heritage sector. He began as an educationalist developing and delivering museum learning programmes for many different age ranges and abilities, using many different collections, from art to industrial archaeology. After successfully completing a course of professional development aimed at emerging new leaders in the late 1990s, he moved into senior museum management, including both Director and Project Director roles. Andy’s first major capital project was the awarding winning Touchstones Rochdale which won the Interpret Britain award in 2002 and was shortlisted for Museum of the Year. He went on the lead on the development of the UK’s new People’s History Museum – the national museum of democracy in 2010, which was shortlisted for both UK and European Museum of the Year. In 2011 he took on the role as Project Director for the creation of the UK National Football Museum in Manchester, which opened to critical acclaim in 2012. He went on to become the museum’s Head of Exhibitions curating many major exhibitions. Since 2018 Andy has been a freelance Sports & Arts Heritage Consultant. From 2019 to 2024 Andy was a board member and membership secretary of the North West Federation of Museums.
Oliver Lomax
Trustee
Oliver James Lomax is a poet, educator, and trustee of the Working Class Movement Library in Salford. He has published 5 collections of poetry including ‘The Dandelion Clock’ (2020) and ‘Burial of the Cameo’ (2023) – ‘Dammed fine poems, full of emotional resonance and vivid imagery; the world made fresh to the eye and ear.’ – Ian Rankin Oliver has written poetry for film and television and in 2019 released his first spoken word single described by Tom Robinson (BBC 6 Music) as ‘An unholy hybrid of John Cooper Clarke and Mark E Smith.’ He has just released his debut album Working-Class Love Poem (Shadrack and Duxbury 2023) which he is currently touring across the UK. His poems are now taught in schools. ‘Poems that dance with originality and are tenderly unafraid of love and belonging.’ – Mark Thomas Oliver passionately believes in cultural equality and the power of the arts to enable everyone in society to have a voice. He is a member of the Audiences, Engagement and Collections Working Group.
trustees@wcml.org.uk