Getting to know people who live and work in the borough

Catherine Gunnewicht grew up in France and moved to England when she was 20.

She works as the manager of a domiciliary care provider called Care Concern (Homecare) Ltd who look after the elderly in Ealing and Chiswick, many of whom are living with dementia. Catherine is passionate about standards of care and dignity and has become a "Dementia Friend" to help raise awareness of the condition.

She has a son of 16 and a daughter of 14 and is currently training for the Ealing Half Marathon to raise money for Alzheimer's Society.

When and why did you move to Ealing?

I moved to Ealing from Pimlico in 1998 when my son was 1 year old

What first attracted you to the borough?

I thought it would be a lovely place to bring up kids. Lots of lovely parks, great schools, great network for young families. This was the time before internet and there were no FB pages for support etc and so it was great to have lots of support from the Ealing 135 group.

Where did you settle?

We bought a house in Hessel Road off the Northfield Ave. I loved the community/family feel of Northfields. It almost felt like a village

Have you moved since? Why?

We moved to Hanwell in 2007 because we needed a bit more space and you can get a bit more for your money in Hanwell. We got a bigger house with a bigger garden

What do you love about the area?

I love Ealing. I'm proud to be part of the community. I love our parks, our local shops, our great schools, our proximity to Central London. It’s a great place to live and a great place for teenagers to grow up.

What are your favourite shops/restaurants?

I love our small local shops such as Darch and Duff, Cheese Deli, Memory Lane (Hanwell), Tetote Factory (amazing Japanese bakery). We are very lucky to have such a wide selection of independent shops.
I love eating out at the Thai Café, a lovely small Thai restaurant in Hanwell. It has fabulous food at very affordable prices. Obviously I adore the amazing Maxim's as well but that's more for a special occasion. I have recently discovered Sumo Sushi which is eat- in or take-away, I have not tried the eat-in yet but have had take-away sushi and it was DIVINE!

Oh and my new favourite place to buy clothes is a Hanwell-based on-line shop run by the lovely Amy see here

Any hidden gems that people don't know (and you'd like to keep quiet!)

It's not so much a physical place as a virtual place. It's the wonderful #ealinghour on Twitter every Tuesday from 8-9pm. It's a real community thing and brings the community together, with people supporting each other and sharing local knowledge as well as advertising their businesses. It's a real gem and enhances that wonderful "Ealing Feeling".

What don't you like/could be changed about the area?

Cycling is still not safe enough in Ealing and my kids are discouraged to cycle but I understand Ealing has been granted some funding to implement the "mini Holland" scheme so hopefully cycling will get a lot better and safer over the next few years

How would you 'sell' Ealing in twitter (140characters or less) fashion or
slogan style to those who don't know it?

Loving the Ealing Feeling. Proud of my community. Shop local, eat local...

Do you want to be featured in 'My Ealing'?

If you live or work in the borough contact editor@ealingtoday.co.uk

8th May 2014