President

Jonathan Berry

johns.president@durham.ac.uk

Hello!

I'm the John's Hall Junior Common Room (JHJCR) President for 2010/2011, which also makes me the Joint Junior Common Room (JJCR) President for 2010/2011.  The President's role is wide and varied, though at the heart of it there is a focus upon representation; representing the John's student body to college and to the wider university community.   The role is also about responding to the needs of the JJCR to ensure that it runs as efficiently and smoothly as possible. 

Most of my time is spent attending JJCR, College and University meetings.  The college meetings include College Council, Estates Strategy committee and Resources Committee.  At the university level, I also attend Presidents' Committee and Accommodation and Advisory Committee, as well as supporting the DSU rep in DSU meetings and matters.  At these committees I ensure that the JJCR's views are heard and that the JJCR is updated with any  important information.   I also spend a lot of time liaising with college staff to ensure communication between college and the JJCR is efficient.

In my JHJCR capacity, I work closely with the JHJCR Vice-President.  I sit on JHJCR executive committee feeding back any information from the various meetings I attend and issues I deal with.  I try to ensure that the executive committee work well together and I offer support when it's needed to individual members. 

As the JJCR President, I also work closely with the Cranmer Common Room (CCR) and the Middle Common Room (MCR) to build a solid working inter-common room relationship and to ensure that the needs and views of the John's student body as a whole are conveyed and defended wherever necessary.   Part of this is to chair JJCR executive committee meetings  where the Presidents and Vice Presidents of each subsidiary common room meet with a few others to discuss JJCR and college matters.

A lot of my time is currently taken up with Governance issues.  A recent change in the Charities Act has meant that we as a JCR wish to register properly as a charity.  Doing this requires a lot of work bringing our constitutional documents in line with the Charities Commission and taking a lot of decisions regarding the JJCR's future, which require careful thinking and proper discussion. My predecessor Steph Hannah made a great deal of progress with this, which I hope to continue to the best of my ability.

Like the rest of the JHJCR executive committee I am a welfare contact and so bound by the JJCR confidentiality policy.  I, alongside the other two common room presidents, also handle members fund applications, which are completely confidential. I live in the President's flat in Linton House attic, so do pop in for a cuppa if you're ever bored or fancy a chat. 

And that's my job in a nutshell! If you have any questions or suggestions don't hesitate to get in touch either by e-mail or by knocking on my door.

JB

Vice-President

Charlotte Roberts

johns.vp@durham.ac.uk

Hi! I’m Charlotte, your JHJCR Vice-President.  The job of VP is pretty varied and flexible but this is now our third year with a JHJCR Vice-President and the position has accumulated several specific responsibilities:

Dealing with issues in college – I’m your go-to person for any problems you have in college be it with food, your room, post or anything domestic really.  I go to lots of committees and meetings e.g. House Committee, Bursarial Committee, Finance Committee, Colours Committee............ where I talk to the students and staff who can get any issues sorted out.  Please let me know if you have any complaints – it’s an important part of my job and I’m always happy to help.

Assisting the President – JB is a very busy guy sorting out lots of important stuff and representing the JJCR to the university and beyond...  Part of my job is dealing with anything he hasn’t got enough time to do which may involve going to the odd meeting instead or generally whatever he asks – within reason of course! I also sit on JJCR Exec (the President, VP and Treasurer of the MCR, CCR and JHJCR) where we discuss and work together on issues that affect us all.

Helping to organise projects and lending a hand to the rest of exec – I help co-ordinate John’s Chad’s Day, a fantastic day of competition (sports and otherwise) and general frivolity with our neighbours St Chad’s (who, unfortunately for them, are just never going to win – ever!).  I also work with other exec members and JCR officers to assist them in implementing their plans and help out with bigger projects.

Essentially, my job is mainly to make sure whatever needs doing gets done, while representing your interests in all the meetings I attend and supporting the rest of exec.  So, if you have a question, concern, problem or idea and aren’t really sure who to take it to – I might be your first port of call!

Please don’t hesitate to come and talk to me, you can email me at johns.vp@durham.ac.uk (or use the anonymous contact form on the website) or call me on 07531 466840.

See you around college!

Charlotte x

Communications Officer

Bella Longman

johns.comms@durham.ac.uk

Hey everyone, I'm Bella, I'm a second year philosophy student, and I'm your JHJCR Communications Officer!  What does that entail?  Well, many exciting things…

• The Website: Firstly, I'm the person responsible for this website (so if you hate it, that's my fault).  I update it, try and make it better, and generally struggle with the technical side of things.
• This Week: I'm also responsible for the wonderful This Week newsletter, which is distributed around college every week to keep everyone up to date on what the exec have been doing with their lives. 
• Weekly Emails: I'm also in charge of sending out the weekly emails, which contain lots of extra exciting news that hasn't made it into This Week, and generally tell you everything you need to know about college, especially during the exam period when This Week doesn't run. 
• Lots of minuting: I'm the person who minutes JCR meetings, so you will see me sitting in a corner typing frantically.  Behind the scenes I also minute Finance Committee and a few other committees and am responsible for uploading the minutes of all these committees to the website. 
• The Freshers' Handbook: The lovely handbook that you are all given when you get your A level / IB results is made under my loving supervision.  It tells you all you need to know about the exec, the college and all sorts of interesting things about the JCR.
• Notice-boards:  You can't just stick anything up anywhere in college; I am in charge of authorising posters (with the special office stamp), so if you have something you would like to advertise, please stick the posters in my pigeonhole for me to stamp, don't just stick them up!

I think that covers most things, although as with all exec positions, there are lots of little bits and pieces behind the scenes.  Any questions please do ask me, I really do like emails!

Comms love!

Bella :]

JJCR Chair

Edmund Waddelove

johns.chair@durham.ac.uk

I'm a Second-Year Classicist, and the Chair of the JCR.

As Chair, I preside over the thrice-termly JCR Meetings, keeping them on track time-wise, and ensuring that people can discuss anything and everything brought forward. I am, in essence, the Speaker of the JCR: while I rule on procedure, I have to be independent on every issue brought forward. I sit on a number of committees, generally ensuring that everything is done fairly, and by the book.

Why is this important, I hear you cry. The JCR is a charity; we are obliged by law to seek certain objectives, act in the best interests of members, and keep lots of rules. It's my job, along with the President, to make sure that, from a democratic angle, we follow our Constitutional documents (currently being edited), that these are as up-to-date as possible, and that everyone can feel able and happy to get involved.

St John's is one of only two independent Colleges in Durham; as a result, the JCR can work extremely closely with college to have a huge say in how college is run: from the meals served up daily, to the furniture in the common rooms; the freshers’ reps greeting you, to the selection of our new Senior Tutor.

This doesn't mean that I hold any power: most decisions will ultimately come back to you, in JCR Meetings. Ironically, I will not vote or express any views unless the end of the world is nigh – and even then I'd have to step down first. The only other person in this position is the Vice-Chair, David Bufton (vice-chair@johnsjcr.org.uk), a First-Year Lawyer, who in his capacity as Senior Returning Officer does much of the organisation for elections.

Additionally, there are a number of administrative and organisational duties that the Chair and Vice-Chair work on together, such as signing off posters. I work closely with most members of Exec, but especially the President, Treasurer and Comms Officer.

Generally, if you have any queries or comments about the procedural side of the JCR, I'm probably your first port of call!

SEC Chair

Amelia Giselle Nickols

johns.social@durham.ac.uk

Hello everybody, I’m Mimi and I’m Johns’ JHJCR Social Events Committee Chair.

Ana Walpole is Vice-Chair and together we organise and run all of Johns’ Social Events for you all. We love social stuff and we have the hectic, crazy, but ultimately incredibly fun job of running formals, mega-formals, balls, Johns Day and many other Social events throughout the year.

As Chair I am a member of Johns’ JCR exec, and so help exec make decisions about running our JCR and college. However my main role is to organise all the social events in college, and Ana and I (aka bubble and squeak) work as a team to do everything involved in running social events. We have to negotiate with companies from outside college and also do lots of liaising/arguing! with college staff to organise the running of events.

The social events committee consists of 11 members. Chair (Amelia Nickols), Vice-Chair (Ana Walpole), Treasurer (Charlotte Hansford), PUBS (James Lake), Food (Sam Trevelyan), DECS x 2 (Katherine Higgins and Lucy Middleton), ENTS x 2 (currently vacant), Tech (currently vacant) and Sponsorship (currently vacant). We really need a full SEC for social events to be the best they can possibly be. Being on SEC is a really fun and satisfying role (not to mention the fact that you get a free Bailey Ball ticket the next year!), and so if anybody fancies having a go at a hectic and hard-work, but really fun role in Johns, please consider standing for one of the free positions.

So what are the main wonderful social events that we organise?

• Formals every week. These run on a sign-up system via the Johns JCR website, on a first-come-first-serve basis, and are completely free. These lucky people eat super yummy food and usually bring some wine to enjoy with their meal. Dressing up in formal wear and wearing gowns (Harry Potter style!) is compulsory, and formals are generally acknowledged to be a great start to an awesome night.
• Mega-formals twice a term. The clue is in the name, mega-formals are like formals but mega! We have formal-style food, but they are set in Leech Hall instead of Haughton dining-room, and so can seat about 150 people. A champagne reception and wine on tables is also included, and mega-formals in Johns are really good value (usually only £5). Mega-formals are often to celebrate an event in college or an end-of-term celebration and we often have bops afterwards too.
• 3 Balls each year, one every term. The Bailey Ball (in November) is the biggest ball of the year, in which the college is transformed with amazing DECS, really fun ENTS, and the party lasts all night.
• Johns Day, the best (in our opinion anyway!) day of the year!!! Held after exams in June, Johns Day starts with the famous raft race, and is followed by a day full of the most fun we can possibly pack into the gardens (think inflatables, face-painting, live music, sunshine and masses of fun), not to mention the all-day bar.

Planning all these events is often hard-work and totally chaotic, and we’ll be looking for lovely volunteers, especially for the Bailey Ball, to help paint, glitterfy and generally be decorative and imaginative.

All the social events we organise are for YOU, so we really want to know all the ideas that you may have regarding events, any brilliant ENTS ideas, themes, or literally anything!! We are also always looking for connections people may have which could give us access to discounted ENTS, alcohol etc.. Or even sponsorship (anybody with sponsorship ideas/connections will be loved forever and ever!!!)

So if anyone has any ideas (whatsoever!) please drop us an e-mail (amelia.nickols@durham.ac.uk or ana.walpole@durham.ac.uk), or grab either of us when you see us around. You can usually find us by just following the squeaking around college!

We hope you enjoy the social events this year and we look forward to seeing you around college!

Social-love

From Mimi

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Senior Bar Officer

James Sharland

johns.bar@durham.ac.uk

Hey boys and girls,

My name is James Sharland and I am the Senior Bar Officer for the coming year.
If you are a potential fresher then I can only say that you will love John's and not only because of the bar. If you have already got a place then I look forward to seeing you in October and hope you will make the bar your second home.

My main responsibility is to manage myself and the four other dedicated Johnians that make up the the Bar Team. As a team we run the wonderful establishment which is John's Bar. We host a number of events through the year and will be the base of evening activities during Freshers Week... Expect bad taste nights, beach parties, Paddy's day, other patron saints days, weekly quiz nights and acoustic nights. We stock a large range of different alcoholic and an increasingly wide range of non-alcoholic drinks at ridiculously cheap prices.
We have our own facebook group so come along and check us out.

Much Love, The Bar Team

Senior DSU Rep

Gunnar Ro

johns.dsu@durham.ac.uk

Hello, 

My name is Gunnar Ro and I'm your Senior DSU Rep.

It is my job to make sure that your oppinoins are representent to the DSU(Durham Student Union) and to keep you informed about what the DSU is doing for you. 

To do this I go to DSU Council meetings(they are open to everyone). The Council meetings elects DSU-officers, decides on DSU-policy, holds officers to account and votes on motions.
I will keep you updated on what is going on in DSU through "This Week" and Weekly Emails, but if you would like some more information about what is going on, please have a look at the DSU section on this website. Here I'll provide a bit more information about the DSU

The JJCR elects two Junior DSU reps to attend and vote at council meetings. At the moment one of these positions isn't filled. If you want to run for Junior DSU rep please contact me.
I'm here to represent you, to do this I need to know what you think. Please contact me if you have any opnions, ideas or questions regarding the DSU.

Gunnar

Services

Phil Woodall

johns.services@durham.ac.uk

Hello,

As Services Manager, it's my job to look after all the services provided by the JJCR in college and Margarets Garth. I intend to ensure that they are run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, since almost all of you will engage with them at some point over the coming year. The services are run by a team of people comprised of myself, Assistant Services, Shop Manager, Toastie Bar Manager, Stash Rep, Toastie Bar volunteers and Shop helpers.

My job covers a variety of things which happen within college:

    * The Laundry - If something goes wrong give me a call and I'll sort it out as fast as I can.

    * The Shop - This is situated in the Bailey Room and I have the Shop Manager's help in running this service. Here you can buy a range of goods at a discounted price including sweets, crisps, drinks, milk, basic medical supplies and more...

    * The Toastie Bar - Also situated in the Bailey Room, and run with the help of the Toastie Bar Manager. The Toastie Bar serves hot toasties with a range of fillings from normal to down right ridiculous: but all super-tasty!!!

    * The Stash - For any freshers who might not know, 'stash' stands for personalised clothing showing your affiliation to a group of people i.e. college, society or university. It's my job to ensure that you can get your hands on as much St John's stash as you need/want/can afford, be it hoodies, trousers, hats or scarves. So I will be organising stash orders termly. I am aided in this highly important task by the JCR Stash Rep.

    * The Bailey Room Facilities and Vending Machines - This means that I have to look after the pool table, the Itbox and the vending machines in college, keep them serviced and ring people up if they break.

    * College Photographs - Including summer photographs and freshers week photographs.

    * Gown Sale - In freshers week.

That is the overall summary of what my job entails. But as with everything it is subject to change, if you have any suggestions as to how Services can be improved, do let me know.

Sports and Societies Officer

Matthew Warburton

johns.sportsoc@durham.ac.uk

Hey, I’m Matthew Warburton, your FIRST EVER St John’s College Sports and Societies Officer.  But have no fear, this doesn’t mean I don’t know what I am doing! This position is the amalgamation of two previous roles and is now on Exec so that I can fully represent our college’s sports and societies.

I'm a first year philosophy and theology student and it’s up to me to keep sports and societies running smoothly in John’s, along with the organisation of various events throughout the year. Sport plays a huge role in John’s with us offering a wide variety to suit everyone’s tastes and abilities, which, despite our small size, we compete in at high levels against other colleges. Societies bring people with mutual interests together from across the years in fun activities and more serious pursuits. It’s up to me to look after existing societies and encourage the formation of new ones.

So, my responsibilities are...

• Events – I organise the teams and sports fixtures for John’s-Chad’s Day where St John’s competes against St Chad’s in many different sports...and wins (despite St Chad’s being worthy competitors of the highest calibre, of course). I also help to organise the Epiphany Awards Ball in which dedication to John’s sport and its societies is recognised through the presentation of Colours to finalists. I make sure that Fresher’s Fair runs smoothly and encourages as many new students to participate in sports and societies as possible. Team John’s: a night of inter-sports team competition involving tasks based on the consumption of alcoholic or non–alcoholic beverages and general foolery, topped off with running between the far off colleges of Durham. I guess someone has to organise it!  

• Colours Committee – Towards the end of Epiphany term I sit on Colours Committee  as a voting member, where it is decided who, out of all the nominations, deserves to be awarded half or full colours depending on their commitment to and ability within their sport or society. For more information on Colours Committee please visit http://johnsjcr.org.uk/sports-societies/colours-committee 

• Representation to DUAU – I am St John’s representative to DUAU (Durham University Athletics Union). I have to keep all the teams and their captains up to date and organised, which means a lot of e-mails, phone calls and running.  

• Funding – I liaise with sports teams, societies and the treasurer on necessary funding, as well as publicising any funds which are not being utilised to captains and society presidents. Most of this is decided through my meeting with the treasurer at the beginning of the academic year but if you are a captain or president and want money or need help understanding how funding works, come speak to me. 

• Ratification – If people want to form a new society through a motion in a JHJCR meeting then I'm the one they need to come to first. I also ensure the continued ratification of existing sports teams and societies. 

So that’s basically my job, but I'm sure new things are going to crop up as I come to fully uncover my responsibilities. If you have any questions about my position, or any concerning sports and societies in general, please e-mail me at johns.sportsoc@dur.ac.uk

Matthew Warburton

Treasurer

Daniel Gilbert

johns.treasurer@durham.ac.uk

Hello,

I’m Daniel and I’m the JJCR Treasurer. This page should explain a bit about my role on exec and my tasks for the year ahead.

My main responsibility is to ensure that the JJCR maintains a sound financial position and that we have enough money to fund our activities.

A lot of what we do as a JJCR involves money - whether this be mountains of coins from the Cruddas laundry, huge cheques for wine at SEC megaformals or the odd bit of dosh for a new frisbee. I work with the appropriate JJCR representatives to make sure that the right amount of money gets to the right people.

Throughout the year I submit the accounts for scrutiny by the JJCR and external auditors. I therefore spend a lot of time making sure that our bookkeeping is up to scratch, and that our accounts are clear and reconcilable.

My goals for the year include successful implementation of an online payment system and ensuring that the treasury is brought into line with necessary changes in the JJCR’s charitable status.

I liaise closely with other exec members on handling their respective budget lines and I am fortunate enough to have an Assistant Treasurer to help me.

So, in a nutshell? I’m tasked with keeping us financially solvent, keeping the taxman happy and making sure that the dough is spread fairly.

I am contactable at johns.treasurer@durham.ac.uk and I would be more than happy to answer any of your questions. Thanks for reading.

Yours,

Daniel 

Welfare

Sean Illing

johns.welfare@durham.ac.uk

Hiya!
My name's Sean, and I will be your JHJCR welfare officer for the coming year. Here are a few things that I do. It’s not exhaustive; if there is something not included (or even included for that matter) please feel free to come and have a chat about it. That goes for a chat about anything, any time!

Here goes!

Campaigns... Along with members of the Welfare Committee, we come up with campaign ideas, events etc to let you know ‘what’s going down in the Welfare world’, raise awareness of various relevant issues, and keep you updated with information.

Exec... I also sit on exec as a student body representative, and primarily ensure that all discussions are sensitive to potentially related welfare issues.

Signposting... With pages of contacts at my disposal, I have the information at hand to point you in the direction you are looking for. This goes for support structures (college, university and nationwide), where to get information, and just useful things like that!

Student Support Network... I co-ordinate the amazing team of student2student supporters who make up the peer support system within college. Their details and smiling faces can be found on the notice board (opposite cellar bar door) or on the website. You too can become one of these ... email for info. (Shameless plug sorry!)

Supplies... Sort of self explanatory, from the Welfare officer you can obtain all sorts of free goodies! Including condoms, pregnancy tests, attack alarms, lube and dental dams. Condoms are available through student2students – they can be taken discreetly from bags on some of their doors, or you can just ask any of us for them. Other supplies are available through me, and can be arranged to be collected completely confidentially through the anonymous emailing system on the website if you prefer.

Talk... If at any time you feel like a chat, feel free to come to me! I have publicised office hours, or you can arrange a time and place that's convenient for you by e-mailing, ringing, asking, texting, mailing, etc! I'm here to listen, in a non-judgemental, confidential capacity. I can also make a pretty decent drink and provide sugary treats too!

I’d just like to also say that the college welfare system is there for you to use as much or as little as you need/want but don’t forget it is there to be used. So please never feel like there is no-one or nowhere to turn to, and if you have any suggestions for how you would like YOUR welfare support system to change I’d love to hear your ideas!

I think that’s it!

See you around!

Sean

Exec Contact Form

Please use this contact form if you wish to send a message to one of the current exec members. Feel free to put your name and email address in the provided box so that they can get back to you, leaving it blank will mean it is anonymous.

Please be nice and so if it is something negative you wish to say keep it constructive, no-one likes nasty emails.