Closing our venue; not our values.

It is with sadness, regret and frustration that we announce the Phoenix Cultural Centre and Fiery Bird venue will close at the end of 2025.

Due to a combination of challenges — including losing major funding at the start of this building due to business rates issues having ongoing impact, a short lease that has affected our ability to secure funding, repeated break-ins, and worsening building issues — we are now in a financial position where we face closure of the venue by the end of August.

The promised permanent venue that we were given a draft lease on and crucial to showing long-term progression in any funding bid, has recently been sold by the Council. Though we had researched new funding opportunities that allows for communities to buy buildings we had not been told of its sale. This development, along with the loss of a substantial funding bid and a new licensee, has left us with no viable options for continuing beyond the next few weeks.

Despite this, we are taking steps to ensure we can continue to support all existing groups and honour bookings until the end of December/Jan. We do not wish to cancel on anyone who placed their trust in us — particularly those who support people with additional needs and will need time to transition and secure new venues.

We know how hard everyone works to support their communities, and how disruptive a sudden venue loss can be. We are deeply sorry to add to anyone’s workload or challenges, and want to do everything we can to end this period with integrity and care for the relationships we’ve built.

While we did not choose the difficulties that this project has had over the years and have led to this closure, we do have a choice in how we manage it. And for us, it is essential that we support the community to the very end of our ability to do so.

By extending our activities until December/January, we will be able to complete everything we envisioned for Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC: music, learning, cultural events, training, community support, and innovation, finishing work on a national research and development initiative we have been part of that will have UK wide impact on grassroots venues and democratising access to creative careers.

We can document a complete and successful model — one that others might draw from to reduce the barriers we’ve faced. It is heartbreaking that after 15 years of work, we cannot sustain this in the hometown we built it for for the benefit of our own community.

To help us finish well, we have launched a crowdfunder for £30,000 — the same amount as the recent funding we lost. This will allow us to continue supporting the community until the end of the year, honour all bookings, and deliver as many events as possible during this time.

We want to be clear: this crowdfunder is not to save the venue or secure a future here. We have explored all avenues, including with WBC and our MP, and have been told there is no future site for us in the area. The time for that kind of support has passed.

However, if you’re able to help us spread the word about the crowdfunder — or if you could contribute a short video clip or picture about what the venue has meant to you — we would be incredibly grateful and it will remain part of our history. We understand everyone has their own fundraising priorities and financial pressures, so please only do what feels possible for you.

If the crowdfunder falls short, I have taken on extra work to personally underwrite any gaps to meet bills and ensure we can keep going through to December. We remain committed to supporting all our groups, community members and fulfilling all bookings during this final phase.

Of course, this won’t change our situation beyond December — unless someone appears in a helicopter and drops a few million pounds or buys us a building! But we can dream...

We have been privileged to have you as part of this journey. Your presence has helped us prove that everyone deserves a space to come together, to learn, to share, and to be treated with equal dignity and value. It was something we wanted embedded into our permanent space that was to be put in trust to the people of Woking to own.

We hope the months we have left together will be joyful and meaningful,

We know we often make bookings ahead for future years, and we were confident in our lease end date. Unfortunately, the recent break-ins, the funding losses, and the news about the loss of our promised venue all happened in quick succession — and caught us off guard, too.

Thank you again for your support and belief in what we do. We will do everything we can to make the final few months special.

We tried only, ‘to put the joy back in’

Elaine McGinty

Found and CEO Phoenix Cultural Centre