Sussex spends over £1500 a year on Christmas decorations

Deck the halls with student’s money


It has emerged after a freedom of information request by The Tab that the University of Sussex spends more than a whopping £1,500 a year on Christmas trees.

However, don’t expect to see any xmas lights on campus. The uni hasn’t ordered them this year, and don’t plan to in future. Scrooges.

Every year, two trees are ordered: one for the Meeting House and one for Library Square. In 2012 and 2013, the cost of these two trees totalled £1,525. As of 2014, trees are provided by Sussex Estates and Facilities, so their cost is not made public, but it could well be more. This figure doesn’t even include the cost of individual departmental decorations.

Here’s how the £1,500 could have been better spent:

48 Microwaves 

We’ve all been in that awkward situation of having to stay on campus for hours or even days on end, and without food, this is a massive chore. There are currently only a few microwaves for public use on campus, including in the Meeting House and GLC, which is a pitiful amount considering we have over 14,000 students who all need feeding.

6,000 Freddos 

The recession has hit the freddo industry hard, but £1,500 could still buy enough freddos to feed about half of the student population.

300 meals at Pompoko or 250 meals at Bhindis 

Just imagine, your favourite cult Btown takeout 250+ days of the year. It could be a reality for the small price of £1,500.

75 Litre bottles of Smirnoff or 1,363 tequila shots from Casablanca Wednesdays

Imagine the party. Imagine the hangovers. Imagine you had £1.5k to blow.

Training for a decent amount of SU staff

Those queues at Co-Op and Falmer Bar could be a a thing of the past if the uni funnelled their tree money into training.  Cashier number 3, please?