As summer comes to an end and the excitement of Michaelmas Term fills the Durham air. One question still lingers no matter what academic year you may find yourself in: ‘Where does your JCR money go’?

The majority of us Trevs students pay this one-time levy, but do many of us actually know how our money is utilised? This lump sum of money stretches further than just into the pockets of the JCR president. The JCR (junior common room) enables us students to fully immerse ourselves within our college. Trevelyan College is the hub for our non-academic life, the better parts of university!

The JCR enables us students to fully immerse ourselves within our college

From college sports and societies, to the funding and organising of student events and formals, to the maintaining of facilities and services within Trevs, to greatly subsidised access to the college gym and events, to welfare and much more; the JCR levy encapsulates the parts of our university life that we very much partake in. However, we seem to lose sight of how these events, sports, and societies have been whipped up.

So, let’s take a deep dive into the ins and outs of the main money eating components of the JCR budget. The pie chart below explicitly states: 37.7% of the £175 goes to the president’s salary; this roughly equates to £65, 23% of the levy is allocated to events; this is around £40, 15.5% contributes to fincomm; this is approximately £27.

Put simply, this money helps us breathe life into Trevs. The levy justifies why we have momentous events like the summer ball, Trevs Day, and the winter ball. As we all know does not just stop there, something our fellow first year Trevelyanites will also come to know. The events that shape our time at Trevs and more broadly University truly are due to our £175 levy.

Now we know where our money objectively goes, another question persists: how do we ensure that we get the most out of our JCR money? This question is pertinent to us students living life from our student loan, where we do the utmost to stretch those loose pounds and pennies. The JCR is a student-led body meaning us Trevs students are an avid part of this operation; we can influence and deliver the activities and events. Whether it be the position of president of Trevs cheer, to being the summer ball chair, to being the welfare officer; we call the shots.

How do we ensure that we get the most out of our JCR money?

The more committed we are to our JCR, the higher we progress on the totem pole of tiers. Tier 1 JCR positions are those that oversee the broad aspects of the JCR, tier 2 positions work on more specific parts of college life and tier 3 positions involve joining in a committee. Whatever the position may be, we can and do have an influence over college life.

Durham University is unique in the sense that our resident halls are not just lifeless corridors of rooms, rather they are bursts of friendship and laughter within a wider college community. The JCR ultimately makes Trevs what it is…

Image: Alaur Rahman via Pexels; Magdalena Andreou