Want my job? with Elaine McGinty, Founder of Phoenix Cultural Centre

Hi, I’m Elaine McGinty. I co-founded the Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC and the Fiery Bird Live Music Venue in Woking with Joe Buckley. I write and perform poetry and work on various social and community issues. Additionally, I mentor people and host the Fiery Bird Show on Radio Woking, where I interview a wide range of guests from emerging talents to well-known figures in the arts and activism. I also contribute to the Surrey Policy Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel.

As a second-generation Irish person, growing up during the 1970s and 1980s, my heritage has profoundly influenced my creative work and community involvement. My background is in community development and these experiences continue to shape my efforts in fostering cultural and social initiatives.

Why did you decide to start the Phoenix Cultural Centre and what ambitions do you have for its future?

I was in a band with Joe, my co-founder, and we wrote and gigged original music, but our town had no grassroots music venue—only pubs that put on cover bands. Despite Woking's musical heritage, with famous names like The Jam, Rick Parfitt, and Ethel Smyth, it lacked its own music venue. 

Woking has the highest ethnic diversity in Surrey, yet no cultural centre. Many people I worked with in job clubs and community learning felt excluded and the town centre wasn’t welcoming or affordable at night. The town has vast wealth divides and the ongoing regeneration was making it look very generic. As a commuter town, people weren’t connecting.

Arts and music can be very difficult to get into if you aren’t well-financed, encouraged or well-connected. We had faced these barriers and wanted to create a space where others wouldn’t experience those discouragements: people could experiment, develop and showcase their own work in a supportive environment. We wanted a place where people could feel safe, welcome and connected with others and learn skills that could enrich their lives.

We envisioned a space owned and operated by its community of all ages. We wanted to include gigging musicians who understood both sides of the stage, writers, poets that could offer new music and arts for all ages, cultural activities from our diaspora communities, wellbeing support and skill development. It aimed to be a training venue generating income for community benefit, offering affordable or free music workshops and outreach work. Inspired by the grassroots tradition of Irish culture and friends doing similar work elsewhere, we felt it was obvious to start something like this for our town.

So far, we’ve managed to do what we can in temporary places having to change to suit the building. For the future, we aim to secure a permanent venue to encompass all of this for generations. Creativity is a fundamental human behaviour that should have space to be expressed. We believe places like this should be as common and accepted as leisure centres and football fields, becoming a basic part of every town's fabric.

How does the Phoenix Cultural Centre engage with the local community?

We provide affordable guitar and vocal workshops whenever possible as well as different hire rates for community organisations. We host supported internships for SEN (Special Educational Needs) adults, many of whom join our team and help run the venue. We offer school and college work experience placements and provide space for community groups and charities to increase the impact of their work. For example, we run Mayhem, which is a SEN adults nightclub night put on by LinkAble. Our venue is a hub for creative networking, beginner open mics, artist showcases, and touring gigs that give local bands support slots.

Additionally, we offer mentoring, advocacy and promotion for community-led, social businesses, musicians, and writers who we refer to festivals, radio & press opportunities. We organise music events in various settings such as streets, cafes, parks, and care homes. We ran a free, one-day festival Phoenix Rising, which showcased local original bands, provided workshops, and space for charities to sell their goods. This festival embodied our commitment to fostering creativity, community engagement, and social impact.

What are the ups and downs of leading a community centre? 

The upsides of our work are undeniably the positive changes people report in their lives and the variety of people we meet who each bring unique skills and perspectives. Being at the forefront of creativity and new work, supporting artists we believe in and witnessing their success is incredibly rewarding. We thrive on the ability to respond immediately to needs and ideas brought to us, rather than imposing rigid structures, allowing us to adapt to changes and movements in grassroots culture and help foster them.

However, obtaining funding for a catalytic space like ours is an ongoing challenge. Funding is often available for specific activities or through other organisations but not for the venues that support these activities. This creates a chicken-and-egg situation: if the venue could support more bookings, we could generate enough income to employ staff, but as a community startup with limited resources, we lack the initial funds to hire people. Consequently, the hours are long and the responsibilities can be overwhelming.

Our commitment to running a community venue means our own creative work often takes a backseat. Despite these challenges, our dedication to fostering a thriving community through arts and music keeps us motivated, even when the responsibilities and hours are tough.


Read the full article at Voice Magazine


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