The David Vaisey Prize for Gloucestershire Libraries is organised and administered by the David Vaisey Trust.
The David Vaisey Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered with the Charity Commission (No 11660680), able to receive funding grants from charities and organisations, and a tax effective entity for Gift Aid donations from individuals.
The management of the annual Vaisey Awards is the responsibility of the Trustees, assisted by representatives of Gloucestershire Library Service and Cheltenham Festivals.
The Trustees are:
- Deborah Thacker (Chair)
A previous Chair of Judges for the Vaisey Prize, Debby took over as Chair of the Trust in November 2023. She has been teaching literature in higher education for nearly 30 years and currently teaches children’s literature and fantasy courses to American students on a study abroad programme. Her research is focused on the inter-relationship between those organisations, such as libraries, publishing, the media and academia, that mediate between children and reading fiction, but she has published on many aspects of children’s literature. She has been on the evaluation team for Cheltenham Festivals’ Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils programme since its inception in 2016. A Cheltenham Festivals Trustee, Debby is also co-Chair of Governors at a small Gloucestershire primary school where she is also ‘English’ governor and is on the advisory Board for the Gloucestershire Libraries Arts Council NPO. In addition, she is on the board of MakeBelieve Arts, a small educational charity that delivers an innovative storytelling curriculum (Helicopter Stories) to schools around the world.
- Tryphosa Bennett
Tryphosa Adhiambo Otieno Bennett BEd(Hons) Med, who became a trustee in June 2022, is a Kenya-born educationist. An English teacher at Severn Vale School in Gloucester, every day she witnesses the impact reading makes on the growth, world view and cultural capital of her students. ’Phosa’ as she’s popularly known, sees books as our portals onto other worlds and other ways of life – experiences that that show how similar and yet how complex human nature is. If books are our portals, libraries are our universes – places where we can seize opportunities to jump through these gateways and be immersed. Or amazed. Phosa is passionate about curriculum diversity, an avid reader and a relentless promoter of literature from ‘unheard voices’.
- Julia Hasler
Julia was an antiquarian book dealer in Bloomsbury for nearly 20 years before taking a law degree, training as a solicitor and working in Cirencester. Whilst a solicitor she assisted the board of the Tetbury Rail Lands Regeneration Trust, acting as a very hands-on trustee during the period when the newly renovated Tetbury Goods Shed was transformed into an Arts Centre. For 10 years during this period she was also a trustee of the Tetbury Music Festival. Julia is an avid reader and an enthusiastic supporter of the David Vaisey objectives.
- Louise Gifford
Louise started her career with the BBC in London, working in the radio library and on Radio 4’s Today programme before ending up in Ambridge as a producer on The Archers. She then moved to the charity sector working for local and national charities in project management and trust fundraising. She is now an Impact Officer for BBC Children in Need, managing grants in the South-West region. Louise struggled with reading as a child due to dyslexia but loved hanging out in her local library (Hesters Way, Cheltenham) and taking part in some wonderfully creative school reading initiatives. As a result, she grew up into an adult who rarely has her head out of a good book.
- Sarah Smyth
Sarah Smyth is currently Blackfriars Talks Curator at the Gloucester History Festival and formerly Artistic Director of the Cheltenham Literature Festival for 14 years after working with publishers including Secker & Warburg and Methuen. She has been a member of the ITV Regional Advisory Council, the British Arts Festival Association board, advised the Charles Dickens Museum and launched the first Cheltenham Science Festival. She lives in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire.
- Elizabeth West
Liz has had a varied career in marketing, education and publishing. Her PhD thesis, which explored the influence of a group of women editors, librarians, authors and illustrators on twentieth century children’s literature, was published as a monograph by Routledge in 2023. She lives in Cheltenham and works for AM, an academic publisher which creates digital resources based on archival collections around the world. Having having spent many hours in libraries as a child and with her own children, she is a firm believer that the pleasure to be found in reading for pleasure should be shared and encouraged.
Administrator :
- Pat Lipinski
Pat Lipinski recently retired from her post as manager of Gloucestershire Library Services for Education. Pat has spent her working life as a librarian in both public and school libraries. She has been on the panel for Cheltenham Festivals Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils and was involved in the Festival’s annual Battle of the Books. Pat is also a volunteer coordinator for Read Easy.
For photographs, information about the charity and queries, please contact Pat Lipinski, Administrator and Secretary to the Trustees: vaiseyawards@gmail.com.
