Andy Ginn is associate pro vice chancellor of CU London, a subsidiary of Coventry University based at Dagenham’s old Civic Centre

What’s your connection with the borough?

I’m proud to serve as associate pro vice chancellor of CU London, a subsidiary of Coventry University, which has its beautiful new campus at Dagenham’s former Civic Centre. We celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Civic Centre opening and the launch of CU London on Friday.

What’s the best thing about working or living in the borough?

Working in my role has been truly inspiring so far – we’ve already seen over 180 people enrol with us in our first week and have lots more to come as we build to a capacity of 3,000 in a few years. The best thing is knowing how proud we all feel that a high-performing university is now in the heart of our neighbourhood.

What one thing would you change?

To fully achieve the Borough Manifesto overnight! Failing that, to have the C2C stop at Dagenham East!

Use three words to describe the area?

Honest, lively, ambitious.

Who is the most inspiring person you have ever met?

I’m very lucky in this role to be genuinely inspired by people every day. That aside, I’ve met some of my many musical heroes including Brian Eno and David Byrne; ex Roxy Music/Talking Heads, now free-thinking multimedia artists. I was completely star struck on both occasions! Less famous were my fine art and photography tutors at university; inspiring and hilarious too.

What new law would you introduce if you were the prime minister?

I’d try introducing quite a few laws that our policing and law students would probably tell me are unenforceable, such as treating others in the way you’d like to be treated, living well, enjoying what you do, and compulsory watching of motorcycle racing!

If you were the editor of this paper, what issues in the borough would you focus on?

Good news about how businesses and individuals have invested in education and training. There really aren’t any barriers to learning and I’d want to focus on real-life stories about making new friends, finding new purpose, making a business more successful, or getting recognition or a promotion in any profession as a result. Inspiring stories that would make my hard-working colleagues in education feel more valued and deservedly proud!