This evening, in the last CUSU Council of Lent Term, students present voted unanimously to lobby for a cash machine to be installed on Sidgwick Site.

Tom Hinch, the president of Robinson College Students’ Association proposed the motion and pointed out that certain services, such as laundry machines, require cash from students, yet there are no cash points in the College facilities near Sidgwick Site or in the Site itself.

Meanwhile, some cafes on Sidgwick have minimum card transaction requirements, which require cash to be used for small purchases.

Sidgwick is the main site for Cambridge’s humanities faculties. While the area around Sidgwick has few businesses, it is bordered by Newnham and Selwyn College, as well as accommodation for King’s, St Catharine’s, Corpus Christi, Gonville & Caius and Clare. It also lies near Wolfson, Robinson and Clare Hall.

The nearest cash points to Sidgwick Site are on Newnham Road at the Shell Garage, as well as in central Cambridge, in Market Square and on Petty Cury. The Hauser Forum on West Cambridge Site, home to many of the University’s science labs, also has an ATM.

Hinch noted that “it will be a really positive thing for CUSU to do that can affect all students”.

During the discussion, it was highlighted that previous campaigning from college JCRs had resulted in students being told that low footfall on Sidgwick during the summer months would lead to the cashpoint not being financially viable.

One student enquired as to whether CUSU could install cashpoints by itself as a revenue stream, although others noted that they would be extensive to install, and that CUSU would have to place additional charges on students withdrawing charges.

The motion passed with a proposed amendment to lobby for alternatives such as a ‘cashback system’ in Sidgwick cafés if the introduction of a cash machine was deeemed not possible.