London Borough of Merton

oh wow oh so i guess we have to say that this is a sports mark that's in place in the local authority where we work which is merton and

Yes.

So we're part of a school partnership, Merton School Sports Partnership, which, yeah, we pay into.

Yeah.

But there's probably other ones around the country as well, most likely, that other people can get involved in.

And I know they're really active, aren't they, in our local authority? You go to a lot of things and there's a lot of things hosted by them.

Yeah, I think we're very fortunate that I think Merton is known as the borough of sport as well.

So it is a high priority in our borough, which helps a lot.

Lambeth says no in any circumstance.

Merton, Ealing and Islington say no. Kensington and Chelsea says no solution is acceptable yet.

But Richmond, Enfield and Bromley all run open schemes.

Same city, same pavements, different answers.

Three is Surrey.

Two is Merton.

And at first place, the best place to raise a child in this country is Cheshire East.

I want to know what the differences are.

You would be biologically exactly the same person that you are today if you'd been born into a wealthier family and gone to Eton, but you would be externally a completely different person.

And, and I've said it's not about education, it's not about private education.

So if you were born in one of the roughest parts of the country, you would be biologically exactly the same person if you'd been born in Richmond upon Thames or Merton But your life would be completely different, and because your life had been completely different, you would be a different person.

You know this is the most interesting thing to me over all the things we talk about together.

But we also want to give a shout out to our single listeners in Sydney, New South Wales, Jonesboro, Arkansas, which, you know, I wouldn't think we'd have any listeners out there, but welcome.

And Wimbledon, Merton, UK.

We have one listener.

Nice.

When I came in in 2022, it was all about putting Merton on the map.

There's £15 million that we've put towards our legacy fund, and we kind of set the ambition to be London's Borough of Sport.

Ross Garrod is a local government leader and leader of Merton Council, focused on shaping the future of the borough and its communities.

What were the challenges when you first took over?

Affordable housing.

Do you remember the moment where you decided not just to go into politics, but actually that you wanted to be the leader of borough?

Yeah, v- very good question.

So I've been on Merton Council, uh, twice now.