Jane “J-Ma” Beecroft, long-known as the $4 lunch lady, is beginning a “new incarnation” on campus. She’s hoping her new “chat room,” which she calls “Life, the Universe and Everything”, will help provide a space where students can feel “safe, nurtured and understood”.
After stepping back from running the $4 lunches at the start of this year, Jane told Critic Te Arohi that she was missing getting involved in the student community: “It was my home for 25 years… providing [not just food, but] a place of shelter, a community, a real safe place with nurturing and love.” The spark that kick-started this new initiative, though, came from a personal tragedy involving a student she knew: “It made me very sad, and made me think I want to get down there, and just be there to kōrero, to talk about anything [students] want.”
“Life, the Universe and Everything” is a homage to how Jane began her work in the student community over 20 years ago: an open-door, open-topic “discussion group” in which students could “talk about anything they wanted”.
The idea’s the same this time around, says Jane: “I’ve gone full circle. Or full spiral, I’d rather call it, because we’re always moving upwards.” However, she now has “a bit of experience in the world… From vegetarian cooking to yoga, meditation, motivational psychology, Hare Krishna… I’ve dipped my fingers in a lot of pies, literally and figuratively!”
Asked about what she’s hoping this group would achieve, Jane said that she hopes it can be a “heart space,” where students can receive “support and encouragement,” whether as a “J-Ma, a friend or whatever they want me to be”. She recounted a story about how “even a beautiful smile can be what makes a difference to someone’s life,” saying that: “if I can create that opportunity for one person, it’ll be worth it.”
“Life, the Universe and Everything” will be happening every Wednesday, from 12-2pm in the Clubs & Socs Building, Room 1. And if the prospect of DMCs, support and wisdom isn’t quite enough to get you down there, Jane also promises attendees that she’ll “always have some treats” waiting there.