For almost three decades, Accounts Assistant Gillian Hunt has been a familiar face in the Bursary, helping generations of students and supporting the day-to-day running of College behind the scenes. As she retires after 29 years at Queen’s, she shares memories of how College has changed, the colleagues who became lifelong friends, and why she never tired of walking through the door into Front Quad each morning.
Can you remember your first day at Queen’s?
It was Monday 13th October 1997 and I remember the Lodge staff being really kind and friendly. It was the beginning of term so the Bursary was really busy. Alan Parsons was my boss and he was so welcoming and has become a lifelong friend.
You’ve seen the College evolve over three decades; what are the biggest changes you’ve noticed?
We used to have queues of students going out of the door and down the stairs waiting to pay their batells and fees by cheque or cash. Sometimes they would have a pile of money for us to count and we also had to show them how to write out a cheque as for some this was the first cheque they’d ever written.
We used to have queues of students going out of the door and down the stairs waiting to pay their batells and fees by cheque or cash.
We used to know all of the students and have a chat – that’s probably the biggest change as everything is now done online so we don’t get to know them anymore.
We used to issue students with a blue kitchen key that needed to be topped up and books of 12 dinner tickets. To book for the Christmas dinner, students queued in the cloisters all night in December so it was freezing cold – it was very popular.
Weekly wages were delivered in cash to the Steward’s Office who used to sort it for collection by the staff; this was phased out and everyone was changed over to monthly payroll.
For those who may not fully appreciate what the Bursary does, what does a typical day look like and what do you think people might be surprised to learn?
I have to deal with a lots of different things from payroll, fees, conference invoices – it varies so much and is busy all the time. It’s always funny when students think we don’t have to work during the summer: a lovely thought!
I think people would be surprised by how much the College costs to run.
What’s been your favourite thing about working at Queen’s?
The people and the beautiful buildings; walking up the front steps and pushing the door open – the view is something you could never tire of.Â
I enjoyed watching the College team rowing in the Summer Eights at the boat club and the annual cricket match held at the sportsground, which was a lovely event. I also enjoyed the staff days out an a coach somewhere; I remember going to Portsmouth and getting the hovercraft over to the Isle of Wight.
What’s the most unusual or unexpected situation you’ve had to deal with at the College?
We had a student who was deaf so we wrote everything down, explaining how everything worked; he would read it so quickly, as we were writing, and was already writing his reply. He was so clever and amazing – I’ll always remember him.
What has it meant to you to be part of the Queen’s community?
The people I’ve worked with over the years have always been great; I’ve been very lucky to have had awesome colleagues and the College is very lucky to have such a great team of people looking after it.
I’ve been very lucky to have had awesome colleagues and the College is very lucky to have such a great team of people looking after it.
As you retire, what will you miss most and what are you most looking forward to?
I’ll miss the people and the community and, of course, the food – thanks to Sean and his brilliant team. Now I’m going to have to actually cook for myself! Funnily enough, my first project will be a new kitchen so maybe that’ll give me the incentive to cook. Â
I do love baking and my coffee cakes and shortbread have become famous at Queen’s…at least if I bake now I can eat it all myself!
