Work Experience 2026

This year, we welcomed 16 school and college students for work experience at Phoenix Cultural Centre and Fiery Bird.

Their placements covered every aspect of running a community-led organisation and live music venue: researching community business models, non-profits and community-led initiatives; training alongside our sound and lighting engineers; setting up stages; cleaning and maintenance; marketing and design; assessing band applications; and contributing to our university research pilot.

Each student also completed a project chosen to reflect the skills they wanted to develop or the strengths they wished to build upon. Their work has made a genuine contribution to our organisation, bringing different perspectives, ideas and talents from across our community.

Aspiring journalist Famke wrote an article, which has already been published on our website. Imogen created artwork now displayed in our corridor, while Naomi and Amir contributed decorative work. Dominic helped to produce the Schedule of Condition for our new lease. Ethan is making a film about the centre for our website, and Jessica wrote and designed part of the statement displayed in our foyer explaining our purpose and how we work. Several students have also stayed with us as volunteers.

Although our resources are extremely limited and we have only one member of staff, providing meaningful work experience remains important to us. As a community-led organisation, we believe that people of every age have ideas, experience and abilities to contribute.

We give students the opportunity to explore all aspects of running both a community organisation and a music venue. The possibility of shaping the places and communities in which we live should be open to everyone, whatever their age. Learning about business models, planning and strategy also develops transferable skills that can be useful in almost any working environment.

Creative thinking belongs not only to the arts, but also to science, engineering, architecture, technology and strategy. Having a space in which to experiment, ask questions and think creatively without judgement is crucial for the next generation. Many of the jobs today’s students will eventually do have not yet been invented—and they may be the people who invent them.

There is no age limit on creativity and no fixed starting point for leadership. One of our former directors joined our Board at just 16 and was an incredible asset. At the other end of the age spectrum, one of our open mic regulars first performed at 84 and, now aged 90, confidently performs gigs of his own.

As I write this, I am mindful that these young people had not yet been born when we began our work to secure a cultural and live music venue for Woking. Over the years, however, we have seen people who spent a week with us on work experience—or several months volunteering—grow in confidence, begin new courses, take on leadership roles, gain university places and achieve first-class degrees and awards in technical subjects they had never previously considered.

Every interaction can create a ripple of change. We may not always see its full effect, but a single opportunity, conversation or moment of encouragement can help someone recognise a strength, imagine a different future or take their first step towards it. That change then reaches beyond the individual and into the wider community.

We now have just two years remaining in our current Woking venue. Our vision of securing a permanent home for Phoenix remains as strong as ever. Despite our temporary, stop-start existence and extremely limited resources, we have already demonstrated what that vision can achieve.

We have seen the difference that a community-led cultural centre and live music venue can make. Imagine what could be achieved for the next generations of our community if this work were secure, properly resourced and able to grow—with the stability that only a long-term lease or community-owned building can provide.

Everything we achieve in our temporary home demonstrates both the need for this space and the greater, lasting impact that a secure permanent home for Phoenix could bring to Woking.

Our resources may be limited, but our commitment is not. If you have relevant skills, time or resources and would like to help us continue providing meaningful work-experience opportunities—or support our work to secure Phoenix’s permanent future in Woking—please get in touch with us.