Weddings may be on the cards as college brings in new business

St Vincent College in Gosport was granted permission earlier this year to hold wedding receptions in its Jervis Gallery on its grounds near the creek, off Mill Lane.

Three wedding receptions were held this summer, and were declared a success by deputy principal David Jenkinson.

He said the college has now put in an application to be able to hold ceremonies, and it hopes to hear soon if it has been successful.

Mr Jenkinson said: ‘There is a shortage of wedding venues in the borough that can accommodate whatever type of ceremony people require.

‘We are hopefully now meeting that demand for receptions as it is one of the largest renovated halls in Gosport, and it is certainly the newest.’

The college renovated the Jervis Gallery as a way to generate income and as well as wedding receptions, it has regular bookings from clubs such as Slimming World, the Trash Cafe – a food recycling project – and sports clubs.

It can hold 180 people and has car parking within the college’s grounds.

It reopened in September last year. Despite some initial objections from neighbours raising concerns about noise and the extra use, the facility has taken off, without any further complaints.

Mr Jenkinson said: ‘Business has been growing all the time. Already we have got regular people who hire the hall, plus we use it as college too. It is a nice community facility.’

The college has linked up with Portsmouth company Jeff Borg Catering and Fareham firm Signature Events to make sure the receptions run smoothly.

Lee Hockaday, the college’s commercial director, said: ‘It’s really going well. We have hosted three wedding receptions so far and they have gone so well. We also have had lots of bookings for AGMs, Christmas parties, people can use the facility how they like.’

For more visit stvincent.ac.uk.