Woking Roots: Ground Up Live

We are pleased to announce ‘Woking Roots: Ground Up Live’ — a new grassroots music programme celebrating Woking’s diversity and supporting local creative futures.

The programme will bring together music of all traditions, creating opportunities for communities to share their stories, collaborate, and help shape an inclusive cultural identity for Woking.

Supported by a grant for Supporting Grassroots Music from Arts Council England, Woking Roots:Ground Up - Live, will deliver a series of live events from many different cultural traditions. It will also support vocational sound and lighting engineering training for people facing barriers to entering the industry until July 2027 as well as fund accessibility improvements.

Crucially, the funding enables Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC to take up its landlord’s offer to remain in its current temporary space until 2028, while continuing its purpose to secure a permanent, community-owned cultural & grassroots live music & training venue in Woking.

Elaine McGinty, Co-Founder, said: the project is about “bringing people together, celebrating our diverse cultural traditions, exploring collaborations and producing new work together for a vibrant connected grassroots scene.

We want people to know we can do these things now, in this temporary space. To come and enjoy themselves, be inspired to start their own creative journeys wherever they are from and whatever stage in life they are at and get involved. To build on the work and commitment to secure a permanent, non-affiliated, community owned building. It is so important everyone has a part to shape our own spaces for community, culture and economic opportunities for future generations to enjoy.”