Category: Local News

The Cellar, a popular independent music venue in Oxford is looking to close in March 2019 in spite of a crowdfunding campaign to build a new fire escape. Last June, the music venue was hit by fire safety regulations after initially surviving redevelopment plans. After obtaining permission from Oxford County Council to build a new […]

It is estimated that between 1000-1500 young people marched through Oxford’s streets to demand more action be taken against climate change. The rally was a part of a series of demonstrations that have taken place up and down the country as part of the ‘Youth Strike 4 climate’ movement. Climate change has become an increasingly […]

A number of music stores around the UK are set to close after the recent acquisition of UK music chain HMV by Canadian firm Sunrise Records. Among them is Fopp, Oxford in Gloucester Green. Under the acquisition, 27 of HMV’s stores will close immediately with others yet to come. In a statement announcing the acquisition, […]

On Saturday, 2nd February a group of Oxford students and residents gathered in front of the Clarendon Building on Broad street to show support for a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela. The day was designated as an international day of action by the National Assembly, a democratically elected Venezuelan parliament, to back the European parliament’s […]

Cellar, one of Oxford’s most popular music venues, has taken an important step to securing its future. The venue won permission from Oxford County Council to build a new fire escape further along Cornmarket Street, thereby meeting all the its legal obligations. The club had previously been under threat as safety inspectors found its fire […]

Oxford’s only LGBTQ club, the Plush Lounge, has announced it will be delaying its expected change of venue to the end of January 2019. Plush had announced it would be terminating its long-held lease at the Jam Factory building on Park End Street in October, with a move to the venue then-occupied by Purple Turtle […]

Students at Abingdon and Witney College might be affected by strikes in the new year. 71% of members of the University and College Union (UCU) at Abingdon and Witney College voted in favour of strikes in row over pay. The UCU reports a £7,000 pay gap between teachers at colleges and schools. It calls for […]

Image Credit: Julie Simmons On the night of Saturday 17th, a number of swastikas were spray painted onto the walls of Quarry Pavilion, a community centre located on Margaret Road in Oxford. City Councillor Shaista Aziz took pictures of the graffiti and posted on Twitter that she was “Absolutely disgusted to see Nazi signs sprayed […]

Image Credit: Steve Daniels This week it was announced that the Campsfield Immigration Detention centre, near Oxford, is scheduled to close.  November marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of Campsfield, and a number of demonstrations had been planned to take place this month in response to this. Bill MacKeith, one of the joint organisers […]

Image Credit: Juan J. Martinez The Ashmolean museum has announced that it will open to the public seven days a week from the 1st February 2019 onwards.  Prior to this announcement, the museum was closed on Mondays, but the change in opening hours will bring the museum in line with other national museums, allowing more […]

Image: Tony Hisgett (CC BY SA 2.0) The Oxford City Council has announced that a new Oxford Living Wage will be set at £10.02 an hour, and will come into force from April 2019 onwards. To mark this announcement, the Oxford City Living Wage Campaign held an ‘Oxford Living Wage Rally’ on 5th November, which […]

Image Credit: Basher Eyre (CC BY-SA 2.0) Oxford’s independent music venue The Cellar has launched an £80,000 crowdfunding campaign to avoid closure in early December. In June, Oxford County Council inspectors, had said that the venue’s 70cm fire escape was 30cm too narrow, and therefore the club was ordered to cut the number of people […]

Image Credit: Fachdozent-Description-Pottery “Handmade in Britain” was established in 2007 to provide a creative platform to support and promote design and craft talent in the UK. Their commitment to promoting the work of talented makers, designers, and craftspeople has already led them to establish annual events in Kew, Edinburgh, and Chelsea.  They also recently launched […]

Image Credit: David Iliff (CC-BY-SA 3.0) Opening of St John’s new library and study centre delayed The planned opening of St. John’s new library and study centre is to be delayed until the spring. The new building, located in the heart of the College, containing four floors, will not only hold the College’s wealth of […]

Image Credit: ceridwen (CC-BY-SA/2.0) In response to the crises of previous years Oxfordshire NHS Trust has announced it is appointing a Winter Director to oversee coordination of care and health services through the winter period. The Trust is one of the first in the UK to create such a position and it hopes this new […]

Image Credit: TEDxSydney/Fe Lumsdaine/Lumsdaine Photography Benny Wenda, the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, is to be considered for the Freedom of Oxford award in a Council debate this week. Residing in Oxford since 2002 when he was granted asylum, Wenda has continuously campaigned for the independence of West Papua, a territory […]

Image Credit: Jaggery (CC BY-SA 2.0) Oxford churchgoers have recently become embroiled in a parish controversy, following the publication of a job advert seeking male only applicants. The job advert, to fill the role of vicar for the St Barnabas and St Paul’s with St Thomas the Martyr Parish, patroned by Keble and Christ Church […]

“Burning down the house”, a popular club night, will be moving from The Cellar to Cirkus, a new nightclub opened on George Street. This decision follows a recent fire risk assessment which has meant that the capacity of the club has had to be restricted severely, since the fire escape was not considered adequately safe […]

Image Credit: Peter Trimming (CC BY-SA 2.0) Yesterday, August 17th, police released details of an assault that took place on George Street earlier this month. A gang of 10 young people, all male, are said to have chased a 17-year old boy down George Street before violently assaulting him and taking his debit card. The […]