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 Taylor, Chair of Trustees
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.
Natalie Walters
Natalie Walters is Head of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation at the Diocese of Southwark. She is an experienced education practitioner and a qualified Youth and Community worker with 20 years of experience in supporting and educating young people in informal and formal settings. Natalie was previously Head of Year and Sixth Form in schools in Lewisham and Croydon and previously worked in colleges in Croydon and Epsom. Natalie has worked with young carers, refugee youth and with the Youth Offending Service; Natalie served on mission doing youth work and community work in Costa Rica and was team leader for Tearfund Bolivia working in relation to Domestic Violence awareness and support as well as fighting child sexual exploitation.
Natalie is very active with the youth and women’s ministry in her church, NTCG Herne Hill, as well as nationally and is currently the National Young Women’s Discipleship Coordinator for NTCG England and Wales. Natalie has a BA (Hons) in Marketing and International Relations and an MA in Applied Anthropology, Community and Youth Work.
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.
Shaun Macdonald
Shaun has over 30 years’ broad experience in business, in global and national roles, across operations, strategy, business development and leadership with multi-national companies. He has held statutory director positions, supporting over 400,000 customers through dedication to key governance processes (audit, risk, people, health & safety etc).
Following a career change, Shaun holds a number of voluntary positions, and is also Leader of Surrey Heath Borough Council, responsible for services supporting ~92,000 residents, with active engagement in committees, and representing wider Surrey as a Governor in the local area mental health & wellbeing NHS Trust.
Shaun has experience of working with young people over many years as a hockey coach and preparing children and young people for confirmation at his local church. He is currently Trustee of an additional needs secondary school, whilst also mentoring young professionals developing their careers. He also takes a close interest in paediatric clinical psychology issues. Shaun previously supported Welcare over a 6 month period with some pro-bono consultancy work.
The Venerable Allie Kerr, Archdeacon of Bromley & Bexley
The Venerable Allie Kerr joined the Diocese of Rochester as Archdeacon of Bromley & Bexley in April 2023. She previously served in Portsmouth Diocese since her first incumbency in 2012, ministering for seven years on the Isle of Wight and in the city of Portsmouth.
Prior to ordination, Allie worked as PA to a vicar and before that held a variety of retail management positions. She trained at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and served her curacy in Salisbury Diocese.
Allie is married to Adrian and they have four adult daughters and one grandson.
The Venerable Greg Prior, Archdeacon of Croydon
Greg, originally from South Africa, joined the Board of Trustees in 2022. 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 than 14 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 continues to serve the people of south London and East Surrey in his role as Archdeacon and brings his skills, experience, strengths, and commitment to supporting our most vulnerable families through his membership of Welcare’s board.
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