Merton won £4,000 at the annual London New Year’s Day Parade which is to be donated to the Mayor of Merton’s charities, Merton centre for Independent Living (CIL) and Friends in St Helier (FISH).
The theme for this year’s competition, 30 Magical Years, was a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the LNYDP. In keeping with the theme, Merton’s entry – Merton’s Magic Carpet Ride finished in a respectable 5th place out of the 16 boroughs that took part.
Merton’s float at the London New Years Day Parade
Merton’s float was designed by Peter Wallder of Colour House Children’s Theatre, Merton Abbey Mills. Costumes were designed by Councillor Geraldine Stanford. Councillors, colleagues, friends and parents danced and sang along to Merton’s official song, Merton’s Magic Carpet Ride, which was composed by Councillor Linda Kirby and recorded by the children of Cricket Green Special School.
Mayor of Merton, Councillor David Chung said: “We’ve been taking part in this competition for a number of years now and the effort that is put in every year is second to none. I just want to thank everyone involved who made this achievable as I know how hard everyone has worked towards this. Due to all our efforts we’ve raised £4000 to go to two of the most deserving causes in our borough.”
Here is a film of Merton’s float at the 2016 London New Year’s Day Parade
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People and organisations involved in putting together this year’s entry for Merton:
Designer – Peter Wallder, Colour House Children’s Theatre
Technical Support – Peter Elliot, BOC
Coordinator and Costumes – Cllr Geraldine Stanford
Younger Generation dancers plus parent helpers
Merton & Morden Guild
Morris 1000 – John Hawks, Merton Abbey Mills
Merton Council’s greenspaces team
Merton Councillors
Music – Cllr Linda Kirby – recorded by children at Cricket Green Special School
Merton Council’s transport services
Merton Community Transport
Mailasail
Abbey Business Support
White Light