Board members

The board members are:

Sue Monckton Rickett (Chair)

Sue Monckton Rickett holds the roles of Chair and Company Secretary. Sue has been counselling for over 25 years, working within church settings and private practice and is a Registered Accredited Counsellor with ACC. With her husband Chris, Sue leads an organisation called WINGS (Wholeness in God’s Son), which provides counselling services, training for counsellors, pastoral carers (including being a Regional Trainer for PCUK) and prayer ministry and leading retreats. They have a particular concern for caring for those in caring roles whether professionally or voluntarily. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and worked in finance and project management in international banks in the City of London and in private practice for over 30 years.

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Chris Williams (Deputy Chair)

Chris Williams holds the role of ACC Deputy Chair and is an Integrative Counsellor working in private practice, accredited with ACC and BACP. His Supervision practice is now closed to new clients. He was in the Metropolitan Police service for 30 years, including 16 years in the rank of Inspector. His police service involved him with many individuals and groups from diverse ethnic and multicultural communities, schools and services. His work as an inspector included being responsible for community policing and he was also a representative of the London Branch of the Christian Police Association, establishing relationships between the police and church leaders in Camden and Brent. Upon retirement he obtained a BA (Hons 2:1) Degree in Theology and Counselling in 2005 at LST (London School of Theology) – Brunel University validated, and then worked as a member of the administrative staff at LST from 2006 – 2009. Since then he has undertaken further counselling and supervision qualifications. Chris values being a member of ACC for the affirmation of belonging to a professional association which allows expression of his Christian Faith among colleagues, and it’s equal standing with other professional counselling and psychotherapy bodies as a PSA (Professional Standards Association) registered organisation. As a Board member, he brings his experience and skills learnt in his professional life plus a commitment to team work in promoting and developing ACC. He is passionate to ensure that its professional standards and status are maintained and held in high esteem by colleagues in the profession so that public safety can be assured and that its members have equal opportunities for employment as counsellors.

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Peter Barraclough

Peter Barraclough is on the core counselling team at The Tree of Life Centre, Huddersfield where he trained, and also practises counselling privately in Sheffield where he lives. In his younger days he used to work as a civil engineer in the public health field for a local authority and an engineering consultancy. Along with his wife, he is now a companion of the Northumbria Community which is a dispersed network of diverse people from different backgrounds, streams and edges of the Christian faith who explore Celtic monastic spirituality and follow the ‘rule of availability and vulnerability’. Peter has a particular interest in working with the legacy of childhood trauma and developing understanding in this area, and is an internal family systems practitioner. He also has a License in Theology through Lampeter University and has been particularly influenced by the writings of Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair MacIntyre and Stuart Murray Williams. He believes that to develop counselling ethics we need theology and psychology to ask questions of each other. He is concerned that Christians resist the temptation of reacting against contemporary politics but rather adjust to living on the margins of society, where Jesus lived among the powerless, and disavow Christendom which assumes the politics of power.

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Sean Charlesworth

Sean Charlesworth has worked for Norwich YMCA for a number of years as Catering Manager for the 100-bed hostel and public restaurant. He has a degree in theology and has served as an Elim Pastor in Preston, Coventry, Stafford, Birmingham, and Rugby. While in Preston he trained as a counsellor and later as a supervisor. Sean has worked in a variety of settings and has a wide range of counselling experience over 20 years. At present working in private practice and Teen Challenge as an independent counsellor.

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Wien Fung

Rev Wien Fung is a husband and an adoptive parent. He is an adoption and mental health advocate especially for East and South East Asian communities. He also serves as a Mission Mobilisation Manager at London City Mission providing strategic input and research on diaspora and urban mission to the least-reached. Prior to LCM, he was the English Pastor at the Chinese Church in London. He gained an MA in Transformation: Scripture, Church and World from the London School of Theology (LST) in 2012 and before that a BA Theology (Diploma) also from LST. He has also undertaken Coaching and Counselling courses with CWR. Prior to his roles with the Chinese Church he was a constable with the Metropolitan Police, which included working with the Safer Neighbourhood Team. He enjoys working as part of a team and rising to challenges and thinking strategically and creatively. His wife is a Registered Counsellor with ACC. His hobbies include rock climbing, cooking and photography. As a self-professed wounded leader, he is passionate about discipleship, advocates for holistic wellbeing and fights for the underdog.

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Gathoni Hamilton Foster

I was born in Kenya and moved to Devon at the age of 14 to be brought up by English Godparents. I was only person of colour in the whole village. Educated at St. Margarets School Exeter Devon and then studied Property Management at University of West England Bristol attaining a Bachelor of Science. While working as a Housing Manager at London Borough of Lambeth I went on to study and attain 2 Masters degrees. MSc in Property Management & Social Sciences and MSc in Property Investment. I was the first African woman registered as a Chartered Surveyor with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors UK. My interest in therapy was ignited by my own experience of trauma following the deaths of my mother and father in 2007 and 2010 respectively. My therapist suggested I consider taking the YWAM Certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy to gain deeper understanding of the processes that I was going through. I joined the course and attained a Diploma and then Level 5 qualification in July 2019. As part of my training I volunteered for NAZ, a Sexual Health Clinic in London for BAME clients and I still volunteer there. After qualifying, I set up my private practice www.bametherapy.com. Recently been working with one of the leading banks in the UK, offering group and single therapy sessions. I am in an intercultural marriage with my English husband of 27 years and we have three children now 23, 19 & 18 years, who as mixed dual heritage are an inspiration for my research assignment and forth coming book on mixed race identity. I have authored three books: “Waging War, a Collection of Psalms”, “Waging War CD” set to self composed lyrics and music and “From Barren Woman to Joyful Mother’ a self biography of my journey from barrenness to parenthood. In August 2019, I qualified as a single session therapist and have been appointed as a board member and director on the Single Session Therapy Association (In Formation) by Emeritus Windy Dryden.

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Sharon Hastings

Sharon Hastings is a qualified integrative counsellor (working with adults and CYP), supervisor and trainer. Sharon worked for a local authority for over 10 years providing policy and governance support to local politicians in their scrutiny roles and successfully implemented a new learning and development programme for local councillors. Following this, she worked for a Primary Care Trust, promoting and supporting public involvement in the NHS. She also supported learning and development programmes for GPs and other health professionals. She has worked for a leading mental health charity on England’s biggest mental health anti-stigma campaign, Time to Change. She provided advice and guidance to HR professionals and mental health managers from a variety of organisations from the private and public sector, on effective strategies to manage and improve the mental health and wellbeing of their staff. She is an approved Mental Health First and Suicide First Aid Instructor and has worked as a Counselling Skills Tutor supporting trainee counsellors. She is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and an Accredited Member of ACC.

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Phil Martin

Phil Martin lives in Bournemouth and works as a counsellor in private practice and is a member of Bournemouth Community Church. He is a retired Chartered Engineer and worked for almost 40 years in the private and public sectors in engineering, project and operations management. In his last role as head of business improvement, his focus was on improving business processes for both the organisation and the teams that had to use them. Drawing on his work and life experience he now helps people who get stuck or lost in life and in supporting them to find their true selves and move on. He enjoys all forms of technology and often helps individuals and organisations who find it challenging. He has an honours degree in engineering (The City University, London) and a master’s degree in counselling (The University of Strathclyde).

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Janet McNish

Janet McNish is a counsellor, clinical supervisor, trainer, and professional mentor for Mental Health Professionals and Pastoral Leaders. 26 years of experience in various settings. She has managed two Mental Health Projects in partnership with South London and Maudsley NHS Mental Health Trust. She has been the Clinical Services Director for a Counselling Service where she developed a team of 20 multicultural and multi-model counsellors. Since 2008 she has regularly contributed to radio shows, podcasts, and television programmes discussing “taboo topics” from a psychological, sociological, and Biblical perspective, including the BBC, Premier Christian Radio, Ruach Christian Radio, LWR Radio, Urban Gospel Network Radio (UGN Jamz), BEN TV. In 2009 Janet became an Accredited Race Equality & Cultural Capability Trainer for Mental Health Services. She has been involved in Pastoral Care and Leadership in inner-city communities in London for over 30 years. She is a founding member of Micah Christian Ministries, serving there for 25+ years through hospitality, pastoral care & leadership, consulting, delivering interactive workshops, and practical support. In July 2021 Janet published her memoir in the Amazon No1 Bestseller – Navigating Life Anthology. In Health Grief & Loss, she shares her journey from surviving a near-fatal car accident in 2020 which left her with visible disabilities, and how she is navigating her way toward a bright future. She shares some practical suggestions to help others to overcome adversity and build resilience. In 2022 Janet was awarded a Christian Singles Leaders Network (CSLN) Award in recognition of her dedication and outstanding services to the Christian Singles Ministry. She is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a registered member of the ACC.

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Christine Pinder

Christine Pinder is a counsellor, supervisor and ordained minister. She loves the combination of ministry and counselling and wrestling with the overlap between faith and therapy. As a counsellor, she works with Footsteps, a charity that offers counselling to young people, which she helped to establish in response to the lack of support for young people in the area. It has been a steep learning curve, but the sense of God’s calling, and knowing the plight of some young people provided the motivation. With the help and wisdom of many people the counselling centre now works both online and face-to-face, with 11- 25 year old’s. Christine is a member of ACC’s CYP group and loves meeting and learning from other counsellors, who work with young people. Christine has run her own private counselling practice for about 15 years, working as integrative counsellor, with a strong person-centred core and has been involved in counselling for more than 35 years, working in counselling centres, both Christian and secular, and with both young people and adults. As a church leader she is also involved in pastoral work and is passionate about developing good quality pastoral work, and trauma-informed support, within churches.

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Peter Roberts

Peter Roberts spent his career in the City of London working in the areas of Auditing, Accounting, Finance, Training and Regulatory Reporting. His work in International Banking involved travelling to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the United States and secondments to New York and Seoul, South Korea. Since retiring in September 2017, he has undertaken a Foundation course in Theology at St John’s College, Nottingham and further studies at St Augustine’s College of Theology, West Malling, where he was awarded a Diploma, as part of training for Licensed Lay Ministry/Reader in the Canterbury Diocese. His wife, Sonya, is a Registered Accredited Counsellor with ACC and together they lead a Local Ecumenical Partnership Church, in the village where they live, which is supported by the Anglican, Methodist and Baptist churches. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and a member of the Association of MBA’s.

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Rev. Tony Ruddle

Rev. Tony Ruddle is an accredited Baptist minister who after ministering in Dallas, Texas; Chelmsford; London and Grantham was for 16 years a Chaplain for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust becoming Deputy Head of the team from which he retired in 2012. Already Chair of ACC at that point he then became the Executive Chair combining both roles until 2019. Tony was involved in counselling through many years. Currently He is a Trustee of the Northern Baptist Association. He has an Honours degree (London) and a Masters in Applied Theology (Wales) and holds a Graduate Diploma in counselling with York St John University. Tony is married to Maureen who was also a Counsellor and they are the joyful grandparents of 5 lovely girls. All his service is motivated by the love He experiences from God in Jesus Christ.