Oxford,
14
April
2020
|
10:49
Europe/London

Ceremony venues given boost in difficult times by the county council’s Registration Service

Venues across Oxfordshire that conduct milestone ceremonies such as weddings, civil partnerships, naming and renewal of vows have been given financial help in a time of need by the county council’s Registration Service.

A total of 98 venues in the county are licenced to carry out such ceremonies. They are required to renew their licence once every three years so that they are able to carry on providing their services.

Examples of the venues involved include hotels, country houses, barns and museums.

Superintendent Registrar Alicja Gilroy said: “The Coronavirus outbreak has been a difficult time for all of us in what should have been one of our busiest times. However due to the social distancing rules there are no ceremonies taking place.

“We realise how important our ceremony industry is and how much it contributes to our local economy. As a result of this we have agreed to extend licences by one year. This means that if we have just issued a licence for a venue or such a venue is part way through its licence period, this period will last one year longer.

“If venues were about to apply for a licence we have advised them not to do so and just add another year onto the expiry date of their existing licence.”

Cllr Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Cabinet Member for Education & Cultural Services said:

“We feel that giving our venues this extra latitude we are making a contribution to helping them make ends meet at this tough time so that we emerge from the current national situation we have a good chance of being able to hit the ground running in terms of providing a good service to the people of Oxfordshire.”