BURSAR’S REPORT Deborah Griffin OBE
10 ANNUAL REVIEW COLLEGE NEWS
A
s I write this report it does not feel that we have moved much further forward since this time last year. We have just enjoyed a term with most of our students back in residence, some normality in terms of face to face teaching and Formal Halls – albeit reduced in number – and very few COVID cases amongst students and staff. It feels as normal as it can be with sanitising, ventilation and mask-wearing top of everyone’s agenda. However, we do not know what awaits us next term. How many of our students will be able to return, will we be able to continue dining together and can we provide our students with an enjoyable university experience? Our staff have once again come to the fore this past year. We have a well-practised procedure for supporting students in quarantine and isolation – it is nice to get the odd email thanking us for that support from students who are restricted to their rooms to isolate. Once again with our students’ arrival and departure dictated by changing regulations and travelling requirements, there has been a mammoth task to ensure belongings are packed up, stored or transported overseas. The new Dining Hall – with kitchens and new Buttery – has developed before our eyes and we hope to move in over the Easter vacation. It shimmers in the sunshine reflecting the surrounding trees, and the spaces created for our students to study, dine and socialise will be very welcome. We cannot wait to show it to you! Our catering and conference teams are very much looking forward to moving into the new Dining Hall and working in kitchens with natural daylight! During the Easter term, they made great use of Homerton branded picnic boxes to provide
meals for College events, culminating in a College picnic in June for over 500 where we were able to enjoy music and entertainment provided by Homerton members in the beautiful grounds of the College. It was also an opportunity to say goodbye, in strange circumstances, to Professor Geoff Ward on his retirement from the College after eight years as Principal. This past term, we have had more dinners then ever as we undertook matriculation dinners for all this year’s and last year’s first-year undergraduates and postgraduates. We also had two dinners where previously there would have been one to reduce numbers dining in the Hall. We also completed an architectural competition for a new building at the front of College on Hills Road, which was won by Alison Brooks Architects who were appointed in July. The “lantern” on Hills Road has been well received by local residents and the city Urban Design team. As well as a welcoming Porters’ Lodge with a highly functional back-of-house, the building will house an exhibition space, activity rooms for groups of students to use for study and storage for our collection of children’s literature and annuals with an associated research study space. We are hoping to submit planning by the end of January 2022. The accounts for the financial year to 30 June 2021 were approved by the Governing Body on 3 December. The main impact on revenues was a loss of a whole year’s conferencing and events income. We kept a tight control of costs over the year although I am pleased to say we did not make any redundancies. The operational loss we made at £1.78m was the highest loss for at least the last 30 years and would have been even higher without the increase in donations as a result of
