The Phoenix Cultural Centre has received £5,000 to fund community music workshops for people in Woking who lack confidence, resources or for other reasons may not be able to access music and all the benefits it can bring.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
The Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC provides a not for profit live music venue that brings the community together through music, arts and learning. It aims to provide opportunities where people of all ages and backgrounds can mix and explore their creativity.
The grant will assist in delivering further workshops in their new venue, The Fiery Bird in Woking, giving even more people the chance to try new skills and meet new people with the aim of increasing overall wellbeing.
Elaine McGinty, Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC, said: “We piloted some music workshops for people who may have never had the chance to take part in lessons before and we were inundated with responses and wanted to help more people who were contacting us. We believe that everyone should have access to music whether they want to explore their own creativity, go on to perform or just for enjoyment and to relieve some stress. This grant will enable us to bring more people the social and wellbeing benefits that taking part in music has been proved to provide and we are really excited about being able to set up more classes as a result.”
Byron Hall, Branch Manager at Santander’s Woking branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations to local projects every year with the aim of assisting organisations, communities and vulnerable people throughout the UK. The staff at our branch know the great work Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC does in our community and we hope this grant will help them in their support for local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander
Email: Leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk Tel: 020 7756 4543
Elaine McGinty at Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC
Email: phoenixculturalcentre@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07763833807
About Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC
Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC was set up by residents who wanted to bring a unique project to their town, combining a live music, cultural and arts venue to bring its diverse community together. It has the aim of giving a new social life to people who may be isolated offering community arts, skills and employment training in the creative industries. The charity hopes to give people the chance to develop new music and the chance to access the wellbeing benefits of taking part in and listening to music, whatever their age or background.
For more information please visit: www.phoenixculturalcentre.org.uk
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 March 2018, the bank has c19,500 employees. It serves around 14 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking; and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.