YUSU budget up by more than £100,000
YUSU’s budget has risen by more than £100,000 in the last year, largely due to an increase in the block grant allocated to them by the University. The budget, which was passed by YUSU’s Finance Committee on May 22, now awaits ratification by the University’s Finance Department.
The block grant, which is the money allocated to the Students’ Union by the University, now stands at £738,631, an increase of £62,338 over the previous year’s allowance.
More money has been freed up for re-allocation by Your:Shop, which made a profit of £21,000, up from £13,500 the previous year, and by Your:Print, which is now breaking even after filing a £5,000 loss in the previous budget.
Amy Woods, YUSU Services and Finance Officer, said that financially, YUSU is now “in the best position we have been in for a long time”.
This injection of extra money has filtered down to almost all areas of YUSU operations. The societies budget, from which all campus societies are funded, has increased by £11,333, the first such increase in almost a decade, despite dramatic increases in the number of societies on campus. The AU has received an additional £10,000 for its club allocations, which Woods describes as “very important when you consider the sheer costs of playing sport at university level”.
The new YUSU Environment and Ethics Officers will now have independent funding of £1,600 and £900 will go to a summer revamp for the YUSU website.
Funding will also be allocated for a fully-paid YUSU kitchen-postering team, who will spend a couple of hours every week putting posters in every kitchen on campus for both YUSU and JCRCs.
The team, which will be composed of students, will be paid a similar rate to other student workers, such as those in the campus bars. According to Woods, the team will “alleviate volunteer hours spent postering and problems with access into blocks”.
The most serious new cost filed in the budget is the vehicles account, which this year is costing YUSU almost £8,000 more than in the previous year. However, Woods explained that this extra cost included the price of a new seven-seater vehicle, as the current one needs replacement.
