At the beginning stages of the exhibition project, the finance team (myself, Christian, Morgan and Chiara) were told that there would be a small budget which we will be given by the university in order to purchase certain materials and equipment such as paint and also this would contribute to the payment of food and drink on the opening night.

There would also have to be some fundraising involved which would have to be organised by the class in order to raise a few more funds. We had a list of ideas including the usual, cake sales and second-hand clothing sale that would have definitely secured us all the financial aid we needed in order to make the opening night successful.

As the exhibition drew closer there was no word on whether or not we would be getting a budget from university and it seemed like many small items such as screws, nails and paint were to be provided for free by the university. It seemed the financial team’s obligations will be quite small.

Just before Christmas break it was decided that Sunpier House would be our venue, and with a café attached to the exhibition space it seemed like the right step to ask them if they would provide drinks (with a fee, of course) but they wouldn’t discuss the options with us but rather our tutor Jason and yet again the role was taken out of our hands.

During installation week it became pretty clear that we wouldn’t be needing any funds as each student was in charge of paying for their own printing, and a majority of equipment was being provided and with the sudden change of opening night times the need to pay a waiting staff (fee of £80) would be impractical as the bar would still be open from 3-5pm and guests could buy their own drinks.

This exhibition was a practice round for our final major exhibition next year, this helped us recognise that early planning on all sectors is necessary in order for everything is go smoothly and stress free. In terms of finance for next year, I personally believe that fundraising should begin as early as possible so we can distribute money fairly across to anyone who needs it.

The idea of cake sales has been used consistently for years but it also costs money to bake the goods. A way to gain a big profit is to begin embracing technology and websites like GoFundMe which will allow our family and friends to contribute and the site can be shared on each of our social media platforms helping to spread the message further than just the university campus; there are a multitude of benefits to using these sites. It ensures that money doesn’t go missing or gets lost as every donation is recorded.