Rumoured plans to close the Worcester college Buttery have been met with a mixture of mild anguish and stoicism by students.
In an email to Worcester students, JCR Secretary Alexander Short sent a stark warning that the Buttery was “in severe danger of closing”, explaining that “it loses large amounts of money, and the college considers that as it stands that money could be far better used elsewhere.”
Emphasising the extremity of the situation, he warned that, “Unless there is an extreme rise in usage extremely quickly, it will no longer exist in its current form.”
He entreated students to ignore the pull of big brand names: “Instead of heading to Combibos or Starbucks, why not go the Buttery instead? A nice quiet place to read a newspaper, have a chat with friends or do some work.”
Despite the range of services supplied by the Buttery, including food, free Wi-fi, and stationary items “at very good prices,” it makes a loss of £14,000 a year, and is mainly used by students to purchase tickets for formal hall.
Julien Anani-Isaac, JCR President, threw the JCR’s collective emotional weight behind the buttery: “Both the SCR and the JCR would love to see it stay open but it really needs to be used. The SCR are even willing to accept a loss if they see that the Buttery is being used.”
Anani-Isaac continued that “unless the Buttery starts being used by students, therefore making its existence justified, closing it is the only sensible economic option”.
However, the previously apathetic student body appear to have been mobilised by the threat posed to the Buttery. A Facebook group entitled “SAVE THE BUTTERY!!!” has been set up, and within an hour had over a hundred members. One member, Rebecca Adams, wrote “If everyone buys one thing a day this week we can save the buttery! Hurray!”
However, disillusionment within the movement grew equally quickly, as it appears that not all of the members joined the group voluntarily. The same Rebecca Adams wrote on the group’s wall “Can I leave this?”, with Robert Nairne asking “What’s the Buttery?” and the group’s creator lamenting “Oh god, what have I started?” less than ten minutes after the group’s creation.
Despite the substantial amount of money lost by the Buttery each year, students seem to feel it is money well spent.
Hugo Lewis, a third-year geographer, described the £14,000 deficit as a “small effect” on the overall college budget, stating it was “worth it” – although he did admit that there were only five people in the Buttery as he spoke.
Patrick Thomson, who is currently a postgrad student at Wadham but used to be an undergraduate and JCR committee member at Worcester, defended the investment.
Although he admitted that £14,000 was “not an inconsiderable” amount of money, he recalls “brighter days when birds would sing as you sipped coffee and bought a Curly Wurly”, claiming that “the Buttery is really part of the soul of the college”.
However rumours that the Buttery’s fate is already sealed may be misguided. Although second year E&M student Lucy Gregory pessimistically mused “It’s basically already decided it’s closing”, the college has denied that any such decisions have been made.
Steve Dyer, the Domestic Bursar, said there would be “no imminent closure” and that the college was “just seeing how the numbers stack up”. However, he confirmed that college is attempting to increase the number of people who go there “with free newspapers”.
