bccs team

Bernadette Fisher Director

Bernadette has worked in education in a variety of roles for nearly 30 years as class teacher, pastoral lead, head of department and SENCO. Her last substantive post was that of Deputy Headteacher (Safeguarding and Child Protection) and CPD at a large comprehensive school in Basildon. It was here that she witnessed the hugely effective work of the bccs counsellors who came into the school.

Bernadette was privileged and honoured to be appointed as Director of bccs in Spring 2017 and feels that there is a need to preserve and build on the excellent reputation which the society has built up over the past 35 years.

As Director, she enjoys working with Bishop Alan, staff and trustees to uphold, sustain and develop bccs' current vision and services. The wellbeing and dignity of the child is pivotal to her work and her catholic faith is at the heart of her motivation to serve children and their families.

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Julie Abbott Head of Voluntary Income

Julie has been working in fundraising since 1997 when she started her ‘charity career’ in the corporate world, working for HSBC as a Community Manager. This role was very much working on the ‘other side of the fundraising fence’ as it involved her being allocated a budget to give out to good causes! It did, however, give her an insight into the world of charity fundraising and it was this experience that lead to her joining Little Havens Children’s Hospice where she worked as a member of their Fundraising Events Team for five years.

Since 2007, Julie has been working for bccs as Fundraising Manager where her role involves all aspects of fundraising. This includes building relationships with supporters and friends, organising fundraising events and allocating charity places in events such as the London Marathon and the very popular Skydives!

Julie is also responsible for securing funds from trusts, foundations and grant-giving bodies - an income source that is crucial in maintaining the charity's commitment to providing support to the children and families who come to us for help.

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Catherine Munns Head of School Services & Clinical Development

Catherine joined the team at bccs in January 2015, having worked as a Team Leader within the CAMHS (Tier 2) Castle Point & Rochford team prior to that.

She has a Postgraduate Diploma from the Tavistock Clinic, London and is a Counsellor and Clinical Supervisor within the team.

Catherine originally came to bccs to devise and deliver a training programme for schools and this comprehensive and holistic training package is now headed up by Louise Picton.

In April 2019 took on the role of Head of School Services and Clinical Development, and oversees the newly established Self-Referral pathway which allows us to support children and families directly at our offices in Rayleigh.

Sarah D'Lima Head of Child and Family Counselling Services

Sarah has worked therapeutically in schools for the last 7 years and joined bccs in 2014 as a school counsellor. She is also qualified as a Clinical Supervisor and supports both bccs counsellors and school staff.

Sarah is head of our Child and Family Counselling arm which supports the young person, parents or family through our team of highly experienced counsellors in our suites in Rayleigh.

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Louise Picton Counsellor, Head of Clinical Supervision, Trainer

Louise has worked in schools throughout Essex and East London for over 20 years in both an educational and therapeutic capacity.

She trained as a child and adolescent counsellor and has supported children and young people from reception to sixth form, alongside their parents.

Louise is also qualified as a clinical supervisor and supports both bccs counsellors, school staff and external counsellors within the school setting.

Since joining bccs Louise has been increasingly involved with the training service for schools and teacher training providers.

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Fiona Reading Finance Assistant

Fiona joined bccs as Finance Assistant in January 2016 after taking a career break to raise her children. Fiona began her career in accounting in 1999 at Cancer Research UK. She then went on to work in the city as a Fund Accountant at several Investment Banks for eight years. Fiona has also done volunteer work in the finance department for Samaritans Purse UK.

Libby Phillips Communications & Fundraising Assistant

Having worked in Education for ten years, Libby joined bccs as a volunteer in 2013 helping with administrative duties.

She was invited to join the team as a Fundraising Administrator the following year and enjoys planning and supporting Julie with fundraising events and initiatives.

She coordinates the sale of the charity Christmas cards and the volunteer team who help with our Newsletter mailings. She also has responsibility for updating content on the website and maintaining communication with supporters via our social media channels.

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Alison Golder Schools' & Office Administrator

Alison joined the bccs team firstly as a volunteer in 2015 helping with administrative duties in the office and at fundraising events.

She was invited to join bccs as a Trustee in 2016 and served on the Fundraising Subcommittee for two years before joining the Fundraising Team in November 2018 as Fundraising Administrator.

Alison started a dual role in February 2019 supporting the administration of both the Self-Referral and the Fundraising Teams and since October 2020 has worked with Catherine supporting the Schools' team and Bernadette with Trustees, HR and general office administration.

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Damian Dillon Community Engagement Officer

Damian joined bccs in 2021 originally to deliver our community Relay 100 walk across the diocese and is now our Community Engagement Officer liaising with clubs, groups and parishes.

Damian built a career within the print and publishing sector specialising in pre-press artwork and has also spent time working in further education and in several secondary schools.

An established volunteer around the Southend Deanery for the Knights of St Columba, he has been a regular supporter of bccs and coordinated a parish to parish walk for many years to raise funds for our work.