ACC Accord Summer 2021 Issue 111

News & Diary
New Head of Membership Services
We are delighted to welcome
Gillian Stuart as our new Head of
Membership Services. As you will
see from below Gillian brings to this
role both counselling and pastoral
experience and we look forward
to working with her to develop all
the service that we provide to our
members.
I am from Northern Ireland,
but now live in Nottingham, via
some time in London and then
Edinburgh. Growing up in a
Christian home, it seemed quite
natural for me to engage in my
own relationship with God at an
early age and this developed, with
lots of wrestling along the way, into
an active and living faith in Jesus.
My life has taken many twists and
turns, but I know that wherever I
find myself, I find God there too.
I have joined the ACC staff team
in the new Head of Membership
Services role, and I feel very
privileged to work with such a
warm genuine and forwardthinking
team. It is part of my role
to manage the fantastic office team
and to ensure that all the processes
for members of ACC / PCUK run
smoothly and effectively. We want
your experience of being an ACC
/ PCUK member to be a valuable
and worthwhile one, and we want
to listen to our members as much
as possible.
Having been an ordained
minister for 6 years, I really see
the importance of good quality
pastoral care and I wish that the
training that is available now was
around for me then. In the wake
of the pandemic, the need for
pastoral care in our churches has
only been heightened and we want
to support the people who are
supporting the people.
I am a person-centred counsellor
who still manages a small case
load of clients alongside my work
at ACC. It is important for me to
stay connected to the real work of
counselling and it helps that I will
be facing a lot of the same issues as
our members, plus I really enjoy it.
As someone who did not train
at an ACC affiliated training
provider, it has been great to find
a professional home at ACC. When
I was a newly qualified therapist,
one of the team members at
New Dawn Counselling Centre
encouraged me to join ACC, telling
me that I would be well supported
and looked after. I am so glad I
took his advice. Joining ACC as a
member helped me find a place
where I can be myself, both as a
Christian and as a counsellor.
Goodbye to Momus Boulevard
On 28 June we said goodbye to
Momus Boulevard, the home
of ACC for 20 years. Covid-19
restrictions meant that we had
to hold our leaving event in a
local park, but miraculously the
pouring rain stopped (just British
Summer a drizzle) and we were
able to hold a time of reflection,
share communion and have picnic
lunch. It was great to have staff and
Board members spanning nearly
30 years (from David Depledge
and John Nightingale, who were
founder members to Gillian Stuart
our newest recruit) join us to share
memories and stories and give
thanks to God for all that he has
provided and enabled ACC to do.
From now on all ACC Staff will be
working remotely, our registered
office will be changing to
International House, 24
Holborn Viaduct, London
EC1 2BN, but please note
THIS IS NOT OUR POSTAL
ADDRESS. We would ask
where possible please
e-mail any correspondence
and if you need to use post
then for the time being
please continue to use 29
Momus Boulevard Coventry CV2
5NA, all post is being re-directed to
office staff. We will inform you of a
new postal address in the coming
weeks.
Thank you to everyone, who helped
to clear and clean the offices, it was
an enormous task and to our staff
who have adapted to the changing
ways of working. This is a change
that we believe will give us new
opportunities to grow and develop.
www.acc-uk.org • www.pastoralcareuk.org accord Summer 2021
19