There are also several food-based societies at colleges, including Trinity Hall’s Dumpling SocietyRobinson Events Team with permission for Varsity
Magdalene JCR spent up to 21 times more on charities budgets than Clare, and Caius spent over £50,000 on sports clubs, University can reveal.
A survey of JCR budgets showed large differences in how much money JCRs receive and what it is spent on.
Of the JCR funding paid to university students, Magdalene had the largest budget, with over £6,500 going to students. This was in stark contrast to Clare, who invested just £302.96 towards university bops in the 2023/2024 academic year.
A Clare student criticized their spending on bop, stating: “Of course, Clare Cellars is the best bar in college. Clare Jazz, queer nights, pub quizzes, birthday parties – it’s all great. But what people at other universities don’t seem to understand is that ‘Clare bops’ basically don’t exist.”
A Magdalene student praised college expenses, telling them University that “the Bops are an integral tradition of Maddalena; they are a great opportunity for cross-year integration and are an important way for students to kick off the term and celebrate after eight long weeks. Many of my best college memories are the product of the ABBA-equipped DJ, the wall of lyrics and, above all, the unlimited buckets of bop juice provided by our JCR.”
Wolfson has a shared budget between his JCR and MCR events, but spends £8,500 on the two bodies’ events. Additionally, the Wolfson Students’ Association is also giving £6,400 to the ‘Wolfson Howler’, a comedy night which has been held at Wolfson College for 15 years and boasts “new acts from up-and-coming local student comedians”. and a professional headliner outside the London circuit.”
Among JCRs whose budgets fund sports clubs and societies, the total spent by JCRs in 2023/2024 ranged from £50,023.55 in Caius to £5,250 in Girton. Of the Caius figure, £20,778.11 went to the Caius Boat Club, with badminton receiving the second largest amount at £3,938.07.
This pattern is consistent across all other colleges, with Jesus College’s badminton club receiving £3,000, while Christ’s Badminton is given £2,095, the second largest amount of all College sports and societies.
Downing spent £20,342.00 on sports clubs, but also invested a further £3,000 on a sports day exchange with Lincoln College, Oxford, which included football, mixed netball, rounders, ultimate frisbee and a ‘nice meal’ in the city .
There are also more food-based societies at universities. Jesus has a Steak Society which was provisionally allocated £150 a year, but its funding was removed by the Treasurer before receiving it. Meanwhile, the Dumpling Society in Trinity Hall receives £100 a year, and £50 went to the Alternative Protein Society in Clare last year.
Robinson’s ‘inflatable company’ received £220 in the budget last year, but was hit by a crackdown on ‘scam companies’ by the College’s JCR, amid concerns it didn’t actually exist. In an attempt to crack down on frivolous companies, the JCR passed a motion requiring companies to prove their existence, preventing them from “using RCSA funding without publicly announcing their events, or their existence at any stage subsequent to their creation in an open meeting”.
RCSA president Alex Myall said at the time that the policy aimed to stop “people talking rubbish and sending emails” without actually wanting people to join them.
An RCSA spokesperson said this University that: “The issue of social advertising has been resolved in Lent 2024 with the understanding of all Robinson Societies that they must advertise to all members of the College. The RCSA has never identified individual companies as ‘fraud companies’.”
Pembroke allocates almost £4,500 of the £31,000 managed by the JCP to social support for students, which includes £700 for yoga sessions, £525 for STI tests at bops and £50 for visiting dogs in terms of tests.
A student from Pembroke said so University: “Having attended JPC-subsidized yoga sessions, I have always found them to be a wonderful way to unplug from the stress of the semester for an hour. It seems to me that such efforts to foster a sense of community and care for our well-being are worthwhile.”
A spokesperson for Pembroke JCR said: “The Pembroke Junior Parlor Committee is proud to offer a consistently high and diverse welfare budget, which we use to fund a range of resources and activities to ensure all our university students feel safe and supported in their university environment. “
Peterhouse is currently spending over the JCR budget, owing £5,263.4 to the College. Meanwhile Caius is currently in surplus, having carried over £5,643.17 from last year’s budget.
Homerton is the only college with a sabbatical role for the president and spends £38,700 on salaries and accommodation for them, along with any other staff HUS depends on. This figure is greater than the entire JCR budget of 14 other colleges, as well as quadrupling the amount received by JCRs at colleges such as Churchill, Peterhouse and St Catharine.
Of the colleges contacted for data on JCR budgets, 13 disclosed a complete budget, 11 disclosed partially complete information, and four disclosed none. Some data from colleges is from last year and some represents expected expenses. Caius’ JCR budget included the previous year’s surplus.
All parties have been contacted for comment.
