Community leadership
Directors
West Ealing Community CIC is led by local directors with experience across community organising, volunteering, education, public policy, finance, cultural work, housing, digital systems and local services.
Local knowledge
Directors bring direct experience of West Ealing and its community needs.
Practical skills
The board combines community, finance, policy, culture, IT and service delivery skills.
Community benefit
Their work helps keep the CIC focused on long term benefit for West Ealing.
Meet the directors
Each director brings practical experience, local knowledge and a commitment to supporting West Ealing.
David Highton
Chair
David brings long experience in education, arts and local community leadership, with a strong connection to West Ealing.
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David has worked for 25 years in senior roles for an educational charity providing help and advice to viewers and listeners in support of broadcasts.
He was one of the original founders of the arts organisation OPEN Ealing and helped set up West Ealing Neighbours, where he has served as Chair for the past 20 years.
Catherine Fitzgibbon
Chair designate
Catherine brings local knowledge and public policy experience, with a strong interest in community led work.
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Catherine was born and brought up in West Ealing.
She is a public policy consultant with a background in international development, working with NGOs and communities in the global south. She is currently a WECL volunteer, a member of the Ealing Town team and the West Ealing Action Group.
Charmian Boyd
Director
Charmian brings wide experience across charity, commercial and public sector organisations, with a focus on volunteers and local services.
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Charmian has worked in charity, commercial and government organisations, most recently managing support services for unpaid carers and a care agency in North West London. This included working with many volunteers and staff members.
Locally, she established one of the UK’s first Home Zones in the streets behind West Ealing Fire Station and is currently on the board of a West London Housing Association. She believes in helping create strong communities and would like to see West Ealing Community Library prosper and support local people.
Nashab Alikh
IT Director
Nashab Alikh, former Manager of West Ealing Community Library, helping staff and volunteers work more smoothly through practical, reliable technology.
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Dr. Nashab Alikh is an experienced digital systems professional and community operations specialist based in Ealing. Alongside his previous leadership role at West Ealing Community Library, he has developed and implemented a wide range of digital and administrative systems that support the long term growth and day to day running of community organisations.
His work spans Microsoft 365 ecosystems, website architecture and support, digital infrastructure, workflow design, volunteer coordination systems, email configuration, cloud collaboration tools, and technical operations. Known for combining technical expertise with practical problem solving, he helps organisations build dependable, user friendly systems that strengthen efficiency, communication, and service delivery.
Michelle Brooks
Director
Michelle brings experience in TV, film, digital storytelling and cultural community engagement across Ealing and West London.
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Michelle grew up in Ealing before embarking on a twenty year career in TV and film. She returned to the Borough in 2016 and is known locally for her Ealing and West London based digital storytelling workshops and events.
Michelle is a Director of Showpatrol.TV and the cultural charity CACE Events. She has also been a long standing Comedy Category Judge for the Ealing Film Festival since 2020.
John Cowing
Director
John brings long standing local knowledge, public service experience and strong finance and banking expertise.
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John has lived in Ealing for over 40 years and has been involved in community projects in West Ealing since 2006, when he represented the area as a local councillor.
He has over 35 years of experience in banking and finance.
Simon Hall
Director
Simon brings senior leadership, service improvement, regeneration and partnership experience across a range of sectors.
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Simon is a vastly experienced senior leader who is passionate about improving people’s lives through better services, providing opportunity, and creating and regenerating places and neighbourhoods.
He has substantial experience in project management, performance management, community engagement and consultation across a range of sectors. He is a resourceful networker skilled at building partnerships and delivery teams, often across different sectors and business streams.