Agenda:

• Matters Arising from the Previous Meeting
• Accommodation Survey
• JCR Room Booking
• Charity Week - Welfare Events Programme
• Catering News
• Any Other Business:
• • JCR Photo

Full Minutes:

Present: President (Chair); Treasurer; Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officers; Ents Officers; Fresher Officer (James Woodham); Gender Equalities Officer (Nellie Yarrow-Davies); Communications Officer (Minute-taker); Disabilities & Mental Health Officer; Academic Affairs, Social Mobility & Careers Officer; LGBTQ+ Officers; Green Officer (Callum Russell); International Officer (Fumie Go); Access Officer

 Absent: Internet Officer; Fresher Officer (Zaria Jankelovitz-Gelvan); Accommodation & Services Officer; Gender Equalities Officer (Katie Dong); Ethnically Minoritised Communities (BME) Officers; Sports Officer; Stash Officer; Green Officer (Ailsa Marshall-Lagos); International Officer (Chelsea Lee)

1.     Apologies:

Apologies were received from Alex Reay, Zaria Jankelovitz-Gelvan, Katie Dong, Chloe Lai, Mayar Sitan, Bertie Moore, Bwalya Kalusa, Ailsa Marshall-Lagos and Chelsea Lee.

2.     Remote and Hybrid Meeting Protocol:

Those in attendance were all present in person.

3.     Declarations of Conflicts of Interest:

The Chair reminded all members of the Committee of their obligation to declare any Conflicts of Interests that might arise during the course of the meeting.

4.     Minutes of 13 May 2025:

The members of the Committee confirmed that they had read through the minutes from the meeting dated 13/05/26 and that there were no issues with the minutes. The minutes were accepted as a fair and true record.

5.     Matters Arising:

The Disabilities & Mental Health Officer reported that a full Guide to Accessible Communications and Events was in development, giving College a template to use when creating accessibility statements for events. College has suggested creating an email address associated with accessibility for events. The Disabilities & Mental Health Officer highlighted that it is preferable if Accessibility Statements can be uploaded along with ticket sales so that ticket-buyers fully understand the accessibility of the event.

Action: Disabilities & Mental Health Officer

The Treasurer reported that the inconsistencies in the Ents budgets had been resolved with no further issues.

Following the previous meeting, it was decided that full discussion on the JCR Committee’s response to divestment plans would be postponed to Michaelmas.

Action: Treasurer, President, Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officer

The Ents Officers explained that all was going to plan with the organisation of the Garden Party on Wednesday 24^th June.

Action: Ents Officers

Following Health and Safety concerns with Catering, the Catering team sent their sincerest apologies to students for any difficulties caused. The Catering team participated in additional training to ensure that Health and Safety policies were fully abided by so that these difficulties could be circumvented in the future.

6.     Accommodation Survey:

30% of the student population completed the Accommodation Survey, providing sufficient data on student opinion of accommodation in Downing. The survey revealed that most students are unhappy with costs and banding. 70% of students reported having to purchase accessories to make their accommodation more liveable, indicating that students have to spend money beyond their rent costs. Students also reported a greater desire for short-lease contracts. This highlighted the potential to offer some long-lease options for first years, which could open up more short-lease accommodation for second and third years.

Action: President, Accommodation & Services Officer

7.     JCR Room Booking:

The JCR Committee continued their review of the JCR Room Booking system. This was to limit situations of the room being booked out by external societies for long periods of the day, preventing room usage by Downing students. The President conducted a thorough review of the activities of the JCR room booking, dating back to June 2025. This revealed that the JCR has been booked for a grand total of 654 hours, with 417 hours associated with drama, such as DDS. 288 hours were associated with non-Downing societies. Other significant parties booking the room were by musical societies, notably the Downing Jazz Band, or cultural, classified as non-academic, non-sports related societies. 5 events involved booking of the room beyond 10 hours, which were flagged as a concern due to the JCR only being available to be booked for 12 hours of the day, from 8am to 8pm.

The President proposed four options to that could be imposed on external societies to limit the booking of the JCR by non-Downing groups:

1.     A flat fee for booking the space of approximately £20 for non-Downing societies.

2.     A fee for non-Downing societies based either on:

a.   The number of hours booked across the week. For example, bookings by non-Downing groups of below 5 hours across the week would be free, with an additional £10 for every added hour across the week.

b.     The duration of an individual event. For example, bookings by non-Downing groups of below 2 hours in one session would be free, with an additional £10 for every added hour to the event.

3.     Preventing bookings by non-Downing groups beyond a set duration, either per event or weekly.

4.     Banning non-Downing events entirely. The President clarified that she was not in favour of this option.

The President reported that College was not in favour of any policies that involved charging for the space, as it would demand expectations of the space. The Gender Equalities Officer also proposed the idea of implementing a ‘lunch window where the JCR room cannot be booked so that the room can still be used by Downing students for eating food from the Butterfield Café above.

The JCR Committee voted on the four options, and option 3 received the most votes. It was decided that both a daily and weekly limit would be the best way forward, with the exact limits to be decided on at a later point in time.

Action: President, Treasurer, Internet Officer

8.     Charity Week – Welfare Events Programme:

The Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officers proposed their idea of a Charity Week in Michaelmas to allow for fundraising and to engage the incoming Freshers with Welfare events and the JCR more broadly. This included ideas such as a fundraising formal, a bake sale or an event associated with the Bar. The Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officers outlined desired discussion with College to gain insight into the charities that College currently supports, with an aim to communicate with students and College over the summer.

            Action: Welfare & Equal Opportunities Officers

9.     Catering News:

The JCR Committee discussed the changes to the meal plan and meal deal systems, as well as pricing, which was sent out to students. The JCR Committee was content with the display of student prices within the dining hall for clearer understanding of prices for students.

10.  Constitutional Amendment & New Standing Order:

It was decided that the Constitutional Amendment and New Standing Order would be discussed at the next meeting in Michaelmas.

Action: President

11.  Date of Next Meeting

The date of the next meeting was proposed for October, with a provisional date of the 20^th of October.

Any Other Business:

-       JCR Photo:

The JCR Photo was to be organised for Michaelmas, when more of the JCR Committee was available.

There was no further business, and the meeting closed at 11:46am.