Trustees
The Board of Trustees has overall legal responsibility for the charity and are responsible for strategic direction and policy. They are also directors of Southwark Diocesan Welcare for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006.
Trustees are volunteers who are committed to our aims and values and usually meet six times a year as a board. In addition to their specific duties, set out in our governing document, they support the work of the charity by:
- Chairing and participating in the work of sub-committees
- Representing Welcare at community and fundraising events
- Strengthening our relationships with churches and supporters
- Participating in selection interviews
Chris Elliott, Chair of Trustees
Chris worked in The City of London for most of his life in the Lloyd’s Insurance Market where amongst many roles he had responsibility for teams of people and budgets. He was also a Member Nominated Trustee of the company’s final salary pension scheme. In church life, Chris has been Church Warden of St John the Evangelist Redhill and was also Chair of their New Building Committee through the time of gaining planning permission, tender and the start of construction. He has been a Trustee of Southwark Diocese, Lay Chair of Reigate Deanery and continues to be a member of Diocesan and Deanery Synod. He chairs Reigate Archdeaconry Social Justice Focus which aims to join churches and others across Surrey in raising awareness of the signs of County Lines Drug Dealing, Modern Slavery, Serious Youth Crime and Domestic Violence and how to report concerns.
Chris Taylor
Chris is a chartered accountant and spent almost 40 years with PwC, retiring in 2020 as a Partner and member of the Executive Board for the PwC Risk Assurance Business. For a decade Chris was the Head of Risk Management for the PwC Assurance practice and before that was audit partner in the financial services sector working on the audits of financial institutions such as Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Barclaycard and UBS. Chris has a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics (First Class) from Manchester University.
Chris is also a governor of Reed’s School in Cobham and St. John’s Angell Town Church of England Primary School where he is Vice Chair of Governors. Chris also served as Treasurer and subsequently Churchwarden of St Margaret’s Church, Chipstead and is currently Deputy Chair of the Parochial Church Council.
The Venerable Greg Prior, Archdeacon of Croydon Designate
Greg, originally from South Africa, has recently joined the Board of Trustees. He has been an ordained priest in both South Africa and the UK. Greg was previously vicar of All Saints with Holy Trinity, Wandsworth and saw it transformed into a growing, vibrant, and culturally diverse Christian community representing more than14 different nationalities.
Greg is passionate about schools ministry, and in particular caring and supporting those less fortunate. He was actively involved in his local Church of England secondary school (Saint Cecilia’s) where his three children attended school. Greg was a governor for 12 years and chair of governors for 8 years before his appointment to Croydon.
Greg will continue to serve the people of south London and East Surrey in his role as Archdeacon and will bring his skills, experience, strengths, and commitment to supporting our most vulnerable families through his membership of Welcare’s board.
The Venerable Moira Astin, Archdeacon of Reigate
Moira has been Archdeacon of Reigate since October 2016. As a parish priest in the heart of Scunthorpe, she worked closely with other organisations in supporting the local community. She has previously enabled churches to employ youth and children’s worker to support local children and young people. Moira was one of the founders of the Thatch Young Parents’ Group to support parents who were 21 years of age or younger.
Rachel Phillips
Rachel is currently Education Adviser for the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education, working with schools across the Diocese of Southwark. Previously she worked in schools within the Diocese of Southwark, starting as a class teacher in a local Lambeth school. Since 2012, Rachel has held leadership posts in three Lambeth schools, improving education and developing schools for local communities. Before teaching and education, Rachel worked in communications and public relations, within both the private and public sector. Her voluntary roles have include the Kennington Bethlehem Link and a member of the PCC at St. Augustine’s Church, Tooting.
Paulette Tajah-Bell
Paulette is an accredited independent Family Group Conference Coordinator who is also accredited for Advocacy, working for several London boroughs, championing FGCs as an essential tool to support families in need. Other community roles include fundraising for respite trips for children and young people with disabilities and learning difficulties, supporting older members of the community, and helping them to forge links with young people. Paulette has over 30 years’ experience in Financial Services, in strategic retail and commercial banking roles.
Nicola Thomas
Nicola is currently the Head of Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation for the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, working with clergy and parishes on social and environmental justice projects in south London and east Surrey. She was previously a Senior Civil Servant in the Home Office, most recently leading on integration for refugees and safeguarding of vulnerable asylum seekers. Nicola specialises in policy and strategy for operational delivery, and is particularly proud of having led the team which created the Community Sponsorship Scheme for resettled refugees. She is also a trustee of the Caritas Social Action Network which is an agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
Louise Villeneau
Louise is an experienced independent Social Worker with 7 years previous experience in the statutory sector in south London in child protection and family support. She also works with social work students at Goldsmiths. Louise is doubly qualified in social work and research methodology at Masters’ level. She has previously worked in education, and for much of her career in the voluntary sector as a researcher at a range of respected organisations in mental health: The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, The Centre for Mental Health Services Development at King’s and the Revolving Doors Agency. She started her career in service development at Mind.
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