Madelon de Jong

I moved from the Netherlands to Oxford 2y ago, and have started going to the Common Ground since the very first week. I feel at home at Common Ground, it’s the only place in Oxford where I feel at ease to work. The people are amazing, there’s a strong sense of community. There's no other place that puts up events like CG, not just gigs but also events specific for queer people. I keep coming back time and again, and I wouldn’t know where to go if Common Ground didn’t exist. It’s a place where I find like-minded people. It would be of the utmost importance for me, and for many people I know, that the Common Ground continues to exist.

anonymous x

Common Ground was the first space in which I found queer community in Oxford. I was amazed by the team’s capacity to welcome and celebrate every person who enters the space. Walking in feels like a warm hug of beautiful queer safety!

Alice Robey-Cave

I am a second year student at Oxford University. In November, I was lucky enough to be able to meet Alex at Common Ground and host my very own event in their space. It was the first time I’d put on an event, and the low price allowed me access to this brilliant and malleable space. With the Oxford student magazine The Isis, which gives 60+ students roles in journalism ever term, I was able to contribute to the strong art scene developing in the city. Working with the space and the staff who facilitate it reminded me just how vital the relationship between local Oxford businesses and charities, and the University, truly is. Without this space I would have missed an opportunity to not only further my ambitions in journalism and prove my ideas weren’t just intangible and non-executable, University students would have missed the chance to see what you can do whilst studying in this historic city. You can project films onto walls, you can show important performance art, and you can do this alongside academic study. Common Ground is full of university students every day, all year round—I would be mortified if my University prevented the mission of a space that has always dedicated itself to the community and its own students.

Cat Tickell

I became a regular at Common Ground in my first year of uni because I had a lot of social anxiety around libraries. Finding a relaxed and welcoming place to study was so vital for me and now 4 years later I am good friends with people from the Common Ground community and feel so at home there. I couldn’t imagine Oxford without it. It is truly a special place.

John McCulloch

In November 2023, I lost my job, and found myself in a difficult housing situation. I needed a place where myself and my partner could freely browse for jobs, as well as feel social and connected. Common Ground was this place for us, and thanks to the welcoming staff and patrons, not only did I have time to secure a job, but found many connections in the friendly people. My partner also had a chance to gain some invaluable work experience with Curio thanks to its placement in the space, allowing her to be accepted to her PhD, and countless new friends of mine have had a platform to share their music via Common Ground’s inclusive gig policies. It is a vital space that bridges the town and gown gap within the Oxford community, a place where class divides are starker than most.

Harry Foster

A beautiful part of everyday life in Oxford, a friendly atmosphere, championing independent artists and creatives. Would be a monumental loss to Oxford if it closed. Wishing the team the best of luck securing the future of the space.

Fernando Concha

I lived in Oxford for 8 years and I know how important CG is for the community - both of students and locals alike. Here people come to work, study, hold meetings, or to relax with friends or even to meet people.

With its chill atmosphere and efficient use of space and resources, CG hits the spot between work and enjoyment for people of different ages and backgrounds. Its extensive share of regulars is clearly due to the spirit this place has been created and maintained with. CG is also a source of jobs and opportunities, as well as being key for many Oxford freelancers and remote workers.

Toby Bramley

Common ground's endless dedication to supporting creativity and community through constant events is felt unavoidably across the street and the whole of Jericho. The gig culture provided an essential foundation for my friends' band to start and grow, a task which would've been impossible without the remarkable cooperation of the staff and the cafe's accessibility as a venue. Common ground is a unique cornerstone of the area and its loss would be irreversible.

Ellee Su

I’ve made so many lovely memories here. Not least because it’s my girlfriend’s favourite place to work in Oxford, but because the people are so nice and the sense of community is pleasantly humming at all times. I’ve never had a bad cup of coffee here, and the after-hours events are always so culturally rich and jam-packed with people. I can guarantee that The University Of Oxford’s ranking in all measures will tank because knocking this place down will mean that many, many students’ favourite place to study and hang out is eradicated.

Salma Soliman

I spent one year in Oxford doing a masters degree. Common Ground sat at the core of my Oxford experience. It is where I met my closest friends, built the most beautiful community, spent my morning working and sipping coffee, and my evenings watching comedy shows and poetry nights. Common Ground was my home and I believe anyone living in Oxford should get the chance to experience it’s magic.

Kathleen Falconer

This was one of the first places I felt safe coming to after the first lockdown. In fact it was probably the first public space I ventured into. Since then I’ve spent many an afternoon working here drinking my weight in mint tea and even got to showcase my jewellery at its first ever art market. This is a space that I really needed and kept coming back to as it evolved. I would be heartbroken to see it no longer there.

Lizzie Couves

Common Ground is a linchpin of Oxford community and society. I have so many warm memories of Common Ground, playing music there, studying for my masters there, catching up with friends, a quick coffee before moving onwards, it is a beautiful and relaxed place and the only place of its kind in this particular area of Oxford. Common Ground has been a place of respite to me and it is part of my strong memories of home. Please save this vital vibrant warm and loving place.

Matilda Noble

Common ground is a place I can go several times a week to make Oxford feel like home, to catch up with friends, to get work done, or to just zone out for a bit. It is my favourite place in the entire city, and is truly invaluable.

For the last year or so I have been dealing with depression, and being able to go to common ground for a pastry, coffee, and good vibes has saved me from numerous awful days. Redevelopment of common ground into something else would be a real loss for me, and the wider community.

EB H

I’ve lived in Oxford for 11 years and have seen many cafes, pubs and venues come and go. Few have offered community quite in the same way Common Ground is able, and it would be a loss to Oxford, on an unfathomable scale, to see it go due to redevelopment. The history of Oxford and its many success stories are intwined in the fabric of its community spaces. To loose these spaces are to loose these communities and will result in the history of Oxford success staying well in history. Much of the city is inaccessible to those without university affiliation as it stands and to rip yet another community space from the people of Oxford would be, in my mind, unforgivable. To me and to the others writing, the space offers so much more than a morning coffee or an evening gig. It offers routine and refuge and friendship to people. It’s of utmost importance that we do not need to fight for yet another local business that does its community good to be able to stay. My hope is that instead we are given the time to focus our efforts on the events and the ideas and the art that comes from spaces like Common Ground. Let us stay.

Sofka Smales

I’ve lived in Oxford for over ten years. In that time, I’ve seen independent, vital, historic third places come and go. From gig venues to bookshops, cafes to community spaces - the casual erosion of thriving, vibrant life has been shocking.

And for what?

Whether you’re a transient ‘gown’ or have made deeper roots through ‘town’, we all need access to accommodating, diverse and creative spaces.

Common Ground is a vital heartbeat in our centre. In the last year alone it has provided me a respite from a cold day with an excellent peppermint tea, access to some curated handcrafted markets, the most incredible gigs with transcendent live music and a place to feel accepted, and greeted, as an equal.

I’m expecting my first child in a couple of weeks time. I’d like to think that I’ve chosen a place to live in which my son will have access to a place like Common Ground. A city which recognises and champions these places instead of eradicating them to further push out their citizens.

This is a space where he too can feel the warmth, inclusion and embrace that this special little corner of Oxford offers. Common Ground has roots, let them grow.

Mark Taylor

Common Ground has had so many important stories for me. I could talk about the joint local art exhibition which my artist wife helped curate and also exhibited in. I could talk about the many fantastic Divine Schism promoted gigs and festivals I have seen there including the one that my daughter performed at, I could talk about the fantastic Jericho Comedy nights I have attended first with my wife and now solo during our divorce, I could talk about the cafe and how it provided a comfortable refuge space for me and a friend to have a drink before we attended the funeral of a friend who had taken his life, I could talk about the beautiful community that is built around the venue and how the magic of the place means that magic things happen there. You can’t easily recreate such beauty and so I beg you to save this venue for the local community and the betterment of the City.

Malaika Aiyar

I run [orchard], a collective for makers in Oxford. We are grateful to be hosted by Common Ground, who also hosts similar community projects in the most lovely creative space. It's a cultural hub in Oxford, with a very strong community. Not to mention, the drinks, pastries, and toasties are the best! It is a place to hang out with friends, to get work done, to grab a bite, to listen to great music, to read a secondhand book, to look at vintage clothes, to meet someone new, or to sit with your thoughts, a place like no other.

A A

Common Ground is the most important space in Oxford. It provides a safe, welcoming space for anybody to read or study or just hang out during the daytime. In the evenings, Common Ground hosts the best gigs in Oxford. This space is so important to thousands of people as a community hub, and is also one of the few independent venues keeping the Oxford music scene alive.

James Gallagher

Common Ground is such a special place to me and many other artists within the Oxford music scene. They gave me the opportunity to put on my own show through their Common Ground Sounds initiative which would have been financially impossible for me otherwise. That performance helped my confidence massively, and it couldn’t have happened without the enthusiasm and kindness of the team at Common Ground.

The space itself is so unique to have in the centre of Oxford, and I always feel like I can breathe when I’m in there. I get quite anxious around larger groups of people, as I’m sure a lot of people do, so I love that the venue itself can feel busy and active, without feeling overwhelming.

It’s a vital space to so many other communities within Oxford and there’s honestly nothing else like it in the city. We need it! I need it x

Roshan Karthikappallil

I first started coming to Common Ground in 2021, when I was studying medicine at the university and had just started clinical school. It didn't take long for me to become a regular here. It was such a lifeline at really difficult transition point, and helped me to meet so many amazing people and really form a community within Oxford that was still around even outside of the traditional uni term time. Getting to know so many different people in the city really helped me to start investing in Oxford as my home and supporting my friends to do the same. Watching the Common Ground community grow over the years has been a great source of joy, and even though I have now graduated as a doctor and live in London, I still try my best to make a pilgrimage back whenever I can! Common Ground will forever be a huge and formative part of my experience at uni and as a young person, and gave me and my friends so many opportunities to create, explore, and broaden our horizons. Words cannot express how deep of a loss it would be if this pillar of the Oxford community disappeared.

Raoul Gheorghe

My name’s Raoul, and I run Dayums, a street food venture in Oxfordshire. I’m writing to you not just as a local entrepreneur, but as someone who truly understands the value of the spaces that make Oxford the wonderful city it is - spaces like Common Ground.

Common Ground isn’t just a café; it’s essential to this city. It’s where students, freelancers, artists, and entrepreneurs collide in a perfect mix of creativity, hard work, and collaboration. From the consistently great coffee to the atmosphere that radiates with energy and potential, it’s a hub where ideas and talent are nurtured. Whether it’s a student cramming for exams or an artist sketching their next masterpiece, you’ll find the pulse of Oxford here - raw, real, and authentic.

This isn’t a place built on pretense or flash. It’s gritty, it’s real, and it’s where ideas collide. If J.M.W. Turner or George Orwell had been around, they’d have been here, surrounded by messy sketches and crumpled manuscripts spread across the tables. That’s the energy at Common Ground - this is where creativity thrives, unpolished but powerful. And that energy is something we can’t afford to lose in an academic city.

When Dayums was just starting out, Common Ground took us in. They gave us the opportunity to pop up and showcase our food to their diverse, engaged crowd. That kind of exposure can make or break a small business, and I know first-hand how they support entrepreneurs and local talent. Their markets are bustling, and the trust people have in Common Ground means that when they support something, the city shows up.

Now, as redevelopment plans for Wellington Square put Common Ground at risk, I implore you to consider its value beyond a café space. Common Ground is the type of community-driven, creative hub that aligns with the values of innovation and collaboration that are central to Oxford University Development’s vision for the future of this city. This café isn’t just part of the city’s culture - it is a key part of what will continue to make Oxford an inspiring place to live, work, and study.

I encourage you to not only preserve Common Ground but to invest in it as part of the redevelopment. It’s not just about saving a beloved spot; it’s about securing a long-term asset that will continue to support local businesses, foster creativity, and generate the kind of organic energy that makes Oxford unique. Common Ground is a goldmine for Oxford, and supporting it isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s a smart investment in the city’s future.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Raoul
Founder & Chef, Dayums

Jason Warner

When CG first opened I pitched an idea to set up a gallery of my local musician photography. The CG team, always focused on supporting the community around them, said a big yes and I got to put on my first ever show. Everybody won - I got some exposure, the local music scene got some exposure and CG’s customers got to connect with one of the most vital parts of City living - the music scene. To lose CG would be yet another serious blow to an already suffering cultural landscape in Oxford.

Greta Markey

Common Ground has connected me with some of my favorite people. And now that I'm no longer living in Oxford, when people ask me what my favorite part about living there was, I tell them it was this coffee shop that's so much more than a coffee shop.

I have never experienced community so embodied in a space. Almost every time I visited CG, I saw a friend, or made a new one. I learned a new skill, or watched my friends perform their art. Common Ground made Oxford feel like home :)

Greg Ball

When I formed my band, Blue Bayou, in spring 2023 I had no idea how you went about getting gigs. Eventually, I reached out to Eddie, but I never really believed someone would let us host our own show at a place like Common Ground - I can remember coming home from work and being shocked that he'd said yes! I'm sure it was a risk for him, but he welcomed the idea, saying that he was looking to bring in more bands since he'd taken over - this was to be his second show.

Eddie and the team at Common Ground were consistently supportive: they gave us their own lights and plants to decorate the backline, championed the poster, let us store the gear downstairs, paid us more than fairly, and bought us beer! We couldn't believe how cosy the set felt, or how balanced the sound was - this was all the doing of the staff and the space.

On the night, I'm sure the community around Common Ground provided half the crowd and, in a very real way, helped springboard the band into the musical project it is now - that first show felt like it meant the world at the time, and to have hosted it in such an encouraging environment was more than a blessing.

We've since had the pleasure of returning to play a few times - its safe to say, a gig at Common Ground will always be a home fixture for us.

-

Oxford has lost so many of its small venues - Fusion Arts, the Cellar, the Wheatsheaf, Port Mahon. For new groups, it is almost impossible to actually realize being a band or artist without the existence of encouraging, small-medium sized venues in your city - in Oxford, there are preciously few options left. Common Ground remains a real beacon of light.

Lucy Kennedy

I went to Common Ground nearly every day in my third year at university and was only sorry I hadn't discovered it before. I found its gentle hubbub calming in my most stressful weeks and the people I met there inspired me in my academics and beyond. It is a place that feels endlessly creative and actively supports creativity in the community: it is always full of artists sharing work and ideas, many of whom have nowhere else to work; it hosts musicians, comedians, writing workshops, exhibitions which I would never have discovered otherwise; when I codirected a small budget student play in 2022, Common Ground provided all the furniture for the set free of charge. Finding a business with a social, artistic passion like this gives me faith in the world. It is also a place where people feel safe and supported. There were definitely days when the kindness of the baristas and the warmth of the regulars was the only thing getting me out of bed and into the world. I would have been lost without it. Places like this are so important, especially in a city like Oxford where the student population can be quite separate from the rest of the community. Common Ground is somewhere where all those people come together. Now that I have left the university, Common Ground is the one place I always feel welcome in the city and I would be so sad to lose that. Every place I live in now, I am looking for a Common Ground.

Dan Munday

Common Ground, pillar of our community. Not just a place to grab a coffee but a place to connect, work, unwind and be entertained. Everyone I know in the area goes here too!

Tariq S

I have lived in Oxford my whole life, both during and outside of term time. Since coming to university in 2021, I have taken advantage of the space in Common Ground to meet many of my deadlines. I find comfort in the steady hum of community that is uniquely fostered by Common Ground -- I believe more areas in Oxford should be supported to replicate this. I often bus into town to work in Common Ground outside of term time, too, as I am not able to work effectively at home.

Common ground is a space like no other in Oxford, that allows equal access to a comforting working environment -- it would be a great loss to both the city and university if it were taken away.

Ellie Duncan

Common Ground is one of the few places in the city where (as a non student) I feel like I have a community which doesn't centre around whether you go to Oxford Uni or not. It's also one of the few places you can get a Hamblin cardamom roll (equally important). These community spaces are so essential in a student-heavy city!! I work remotely here at least weekly, my friends play gigs here, and it just feels like such a warm, welcoming space.

Zoë J

As an Oxford local, I have been going to Common Ground since it opened. I’ve always loved the feeling of community the space brings and have especially enjoyed the many new evening events that you host, which have provided a much needed boost to the independent Oxford arts scene since the pandemic. I am in the process of building up ideas for my own independent queer arts space / third space, and I would say that it is Common Ground that has influenced my ideas more than any other space in the city - your warmth, openness and accessibility to a range of local residents is such an inspiration. A truly indispensable asset to me and this community.

Alfie Carter

I've had a strange Oxford undergrad experience, studying throught the pandemic and suspending multiple times for health reasons, and Common Ground has always been a oasis from whatever troubles I was going through. That's something I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling. For me, life drawing sessions were a space where I could just switch off from everything, but it could be so many things for so many different people.

It's a space that fosters community and creativity. I always felt like I could just pop in and probably see someone I knew, or meet someone new. A few of my friends played their first ever live gigs here, and both the organisers and crowd were so warm and welcoming.
That's what makes it special - the people there, and that it's a space for everyone. Uni of Oxford students like me, Brookes students, Oxford residents, visitors.

The memory that really encapsulates Common Ground to me is of the first supper club Little C held here. I was visiting Oxford for the first time in a long while, feeling rather out of place, like almost everyone I knew had moved on. But that evening I met so many open, interesting people, each with their own story. Places like this are so vital to the life of a city, and increasingly rare. If we lose it to redevelopment, it would not just be a personal blow to so many, but a real blow to all of Oxford.
Viva Common Ground!

Lochlan Gunn

Common Ground is one of the few places I’ve ever visited that really feels like it works for the community. It is the only place I have experienced that genuinely offers a true, comfortable, 3rd space for everyone. Common Ground, given the current cost of socialising, provides a unique, accepting, place to relax outside of the work & home life for little or no cost.

The space it provides for unique independent business such as the outstanding Flow Records sets it apart from other spaces. With these ties to passionate businesses Common Ground really feels like a hub of culture.

It is always busy for a reason, people love being there and so do I.

A H

It is an absolute privilege to have access to a facility like Common Ground, which houses and cultivates parts of the Oxford community that have very few places to go. Most notably, through Flow Records, which is one of the few remaining spaces to discuss and discover dance music in the city. The area also doubles up as an excellent grassroots music venue, which are few and far between in the current economic climate, with over 40% of the UKs music venues closing since 2020. It is an incredible way to meet a variety of people, from students to professors to locals to passers-by, which is helped further by the Common Grounds ideal location and layout. It will be a hard atmosphere to replicate or replace, but I hope that Oxford County Council and/or the University of Oxford will work to try and consider and preserve this community.

Needless to say there are countless other ways in which this space supports the local community, but as someone who has grown up in Oxford, I wanted to particularly draw attention to the amazing work of Flow Records and their importance to Oxford and its creative scene.

Boma Beddie-Memberr

I came over to do some drumming improvisations and performances. It was a really cool experience, and could already see a creative ecosystem thriving in Oxford over there. I hope to be back soon to do more performances and connect with more creatives in the area.

Steph West

I've been to Common Ground for events and for music, for coffee and chats and working. It's a lovely informal space and crucially a gig space in a city that is really struggling for live music spaces. I would be really sad to see it go.

Fred Thomas

In 2018 I wrote my PhD thesis over one long caffeinated summer in Common Ground. I've hung out in the nooks, the bank vault and on the benches. I've met lots of weirdos (that's good). Due to those people, Common Ground is a place with heart and soul and vibrancy. It is part of fabric of Oxford now. This city is my home and I treasure much of it, but it is undeniable that the cost of space here can kill culture. Let's not let that happen again. Vive Common Ground!

Matthieu Marshall

We always come to Common Ground after parkrun on a Saturday and it provides such a welcoming place to chat and catch up after the run. It is the sounding board to then organise more adventures and plans for the rest of the weekend. When there's birthdays or parkrun milestone celebrations it's the follow up place to continue celebrations. I can't count how many Saturday mornings I've enjoyed hanging out with friends in Common Ground.

Common Ground replicates that same all are welcome, inclusive atmosphere that makes parkrun such a success and which has made Common Ground a success too.
It would be dearly missed and irreplaceable.

Anaïs B

Common Ground is a brilliant cafe and community space. They put on a great selection of gigs, talks, exhibitions and workshops. We’ve lost so many cultural venues in city over the past few years and I’d be really sad to lose this one. Save Common Ground!

Lizzie Cheetham

Common Ground is such an important space for me and my friends! I have so many memories there; from dull working-from-home days made brighter by tea and friends, to amazing displays of local talent at open mics and independent events. It's also a space to dance and enjoy live music; experiences that bring us together and combat loneliness in this strange city.

Spaces like Common Ground are what make living in Oxford worthwhile; they open up for connection and communication across social divides, and remind us that whether we are students or locals, we are all living in this city together. Oxford needs spaces like Common Ground. We've lost so many cultural and community spaces in the name of development and growth, and in the process we've lost more and more chances to spend time together and understand each other. Don't get rid of Common Ground; it is central to this city's heartbeat, and the loss would be too great for many of us to imagine.

Alice Gale-Feeny

I’ve been telling people about Common Ground ever since my visit last week. Not only did it have an incredible range of books (queer titles, classic fiction, unusual non fiction) but it hosted a great night of comedy - Jericho Comedy with really interesting and hilarious comedians. Oxford needs cultural spaces like this - where books are affordable and relevant, where comedy is high class and the atmosphere is spot on!! The bar had great drinks, the lighting, layout and mood made for a really cosy and comfortable space.

You cannot recreate this kind of culture and a university development would no doubt crush the work that has been done to create such a unique space. I can testify Common Ground is an incredible space to go on a date, don’t let it get sold off!! Save it for the people of Oxfordshire looking for romance for intellectual stimulation for a great night out.

Eli Mitchell-Larson

I’ve enjoyed many productive workdays and culture-filled evenings at Common Ground. It’s a jericho instituting that is beloved by students and non-students alike. The Uni should add housing in this building while KEEPING common ground, it’s the ideal culture and gathering place for the street and broader neighborhood.

Charlotte Bamforth

Whilst living and working in Oxford last year, I heard about Common Ground from one of my housemates, who said it was a great community cafe that put on events and workshops from music to sustainability.

On exploring Common Ground for myself, I found Flow Records, which had been set up in the back and was run by the lovely Chris! I visited frequently to check out the new records Chris had put on the shelf, building up my collection, and with Chris' endless help and advice, found turntables and a mixer suitable for DJing. Since then, I have set up my own club event, which I will be DJing at in two weeks.

I would certainly not have got this far without Chris' generosity and help, and I hope that others will get the same opportunity to discover new music in such a lovely way in the future. I have met so many lovely people from spending time in Common Ground and it would be such a loss to the community if it were to disappear!

Sathriyan Elangovan

Im working in Oxford as a project manager. To break out from stress, I pursue music production, For me Common ground was the place where I met like minded people who supported other one travelling the same creative journey. I belive it is one of the kind place in Oxford and it deserves funding and not deprived of space to run it's operations.

Max Blansjaar

I was 15 years old when I played my first show at Common Ground in 2018. It was, and still is, one of the only spaces in Oxford hosting live music that is accessible to people of all ages--without it, I and many others would not have been able to engage with the city's vibrant music scene before turning eighteen.

I've continued to cherish Common Ground over the years as a place where creative spirit runs freely, a place where a huge variety of events finds its home in a city increasingly short on community space, and as a place where students and non-students organically meet and collaborate. There's a lot of talk about bridging the divide between town and gown, and a lot of strategising about how to make it happen, but in my view Common Ground is already doing it.

Lydia Fransham

I have really enjoyed going to Common Ground for gigs, and coffees. I really enjoy the range of music, at events like Gappy Tooth. I would really miss Common Ground of the area was redeveloped, and I would love to see the University supporting the Oxford community by allowing it to stay!

Paul Wightman

I’ve been coming to Common Ground and its predecessor since 2015, whether that’s attending countless local grassroots gigs as a fan, promoting and filming internationally renowned artists for Sofar Sounds, holding board meetings for Causing a Scene - Oxfordshire’s music scene champion, meeting Silicon Valley social enterprise start-ups for my day job as a communications strategist, or just grabbing a coffee and hanging out with the community of warm, welcoming, inquisitive, creative people who gravitate there.

Common Ground is a melting pot like no other in Oxford, attracting wonderful, curious people of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and skills, in a relaxed, affordable, ethical and nurturing atmosphere that sparks genuine and long-lasting networks and friendships across the divides.

In a city which prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation, but which too often constrains that innovation by being rigid and siloed, and by sidelining creative people, Common Ground is a model of how it should be done, smashing diverse people and ideas together over coffee, craft beer and pastries, in an effortless way that the University can't do.

So if the ancient halls of academia and their tech spin out labs are the brains and the economic drivers for the city, Common Ground is Oxford's heart and soul and smile.

Creativity and innovation needs space to breathe, so I look forward to visiting a bigger and better Common Ground once the redevelopment is complete.

Olivia Stock

As a young creative person living in Oxford, there really is nowhere better to hang out than Common Ground. It’s one of those places where you pop in to grab a quick coffee and end up leaving three hours later with a bag full of strange ambient records, locally-made art, some bargain books, a pair of vintage trousers and a handful of new friends.

Having watched the university slowly subsume the city throughout my lifetime, fun, creative spaces like Common Ground have become increasingly invaluable, offering a chance for people from all walks of life to explore their interests and feel seen. The team at Common Ground understand that better than anyone, and have worked tirelessly to create a one-of-a-kind hub for collaboration and creativity in Oxford. Losing it would be an immense blow to the local community — and a huge step back in progress for the city. Long live CG!

Mikey Bic

Where to start? Ok.

A gig at Common Ground, the longest day of the year, people spilling onto the outdoor tables, talking and sipping wine, me thinking this is the only place in Oxford where you could get momentarily confused and think you're in a Meditteranean town.

Then a winter night, recording an acoustic session with our band in the bookshop downstairs. Leafing through pages and spines in the dim light- the forbidden thrill of being in a daytime place after hours.
Then just last weekend, drifting between the glow of different ambient music sets. So many people I have come to know are here. People on sofas, sitting on the floor, standing at the bar, dancing increasingly.

Common Ground is the best venue in Oxford. It's not just a place where creative communities go- it's a space that genuinely cultivates community and creativity. It's difficult to communicate the value of a place like this to anyone who hasn't experienced it. So difficult to explain the need for it. Please believe us when we say it would be devastating to lose this space.

Rosemary Newman

The gigs that I've played at Common Ground with my band Top Shortage have been among my favourite evenings in Oxford. It's the best gig venue in the city and shutting it down would be cruel and short-sighted.

Imo Rolfe

One of the most precious things about any urban environment are the spaces that bring people together from all walks of life and provide not just a venue, cafe or workspace, but a sanctuary and a central meeting point where all people from any walk of life are welcomed. Common Ground is all these things and more - it's a place that I cite constantly when people ask me why I'm living in Oxford and not somewhere closer to my work or family. It's the reason I go to Jericho, and the reason I feel so at home here.

It's hard to list all the wonderful experiences I've had and connections I've made here, but the most recent one was going to the Hyperstition ambient music night on January 19th, where I shared a coffee and laugh with familiar community members, bonded with new friends, and felt entirely comfortable and at home as I mingled with patrons, chatted to staff, and took some alone time for myself to enjoy the music and atmosphere. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I don't know what I'd do without this space - I certainly wouldn't spend half the amount of time on this part of Oxford, and probably would lose a sense of identity in this city, and consider other places to live and build community. But right now I feel like I belong here, and I can thank Common Ground for facilitating these experiences and relationships.

Alastair Tervit

I've attended countless music events at Common Ground and seen a shed load of comedians there too. It's a wonderful space for creators to perform and meet up and it would be a tragedy to lose it.

Isobel Powner

I’m a student and I’ve loved the creative atmosphere of Common Ground, and how it really encourages people to work on projects together as well as the amazing community and student events the space is used for (open mic nights / student and local bands / cooking events to name a few). I love the ethos of the cafe as a co-working space & look forward to spending my time there.

Miranda Grace

As a cult survivor community was one of the things I lost, and lost faith in, when I left the organisation , which still has an Oxford base. Over the past 3 years in Oxford community is one of the things I’ve gained, in new and unexpected ways. Common ground is a space that symbolises this for me and what community now means: acceptance, diversity, ethics, creativity and culture, laughter, unconditional love. It would be such a shame to see it go.

S. a. Green

I’ve been coming to Oxford for years. My husband is a Modern British historian at a university in the States (and son of a fierce woman from Kent with a PhD from Cornell but I digress). He’s overseen and/or our Summer Oxford program for many years. I taught in the same program in 2022. Jericho is my favorite neighborhood in all of the UK. Common Ground is a place to sit and breathe in a neighborhood that feels smart and personal. When I leave Worcester College and turn left, not right, I walk away from congestion and fast movements and sometimes, the tired and not so kind. I turn left with a slower pace on my mind. Please. No more trucks. No more construction. No more spaces for the hurried and tired and sometimes, not so kind. If change is ahead, can there be compromise? Can it wait? Who wins? Who gains?

Ian De Quadros

I used to work in Jericho around the corner from Common Ground at OUP. A morning coffee at Common Ground became a bit of ritual, which is good because the coffee is great. But it's not just about the coffee. The people, the ambiance and the whole set up make it. It still blows my mind that it used to be a bank!

The fact that Oxford seems to be losing venues to play and perform is frankly alarming but it's more than just a gig venue in many ways, it's a creative bohemian space that allows creative bohemian things to happen. And you can work there. And they do great coffee. The recent Tiger Mendoza and friends single launch gig was amazing and would not have been possible without the good folk at Common Ground doing what they do.

Lee Riley

I been to so many great events at Common Ground. A fantastic venue, friendly atmosphere and place to have a coffee or watch live music.

I have performed there a couple of times and curated an event which I am hoping to more of if this can stay a great space that felt really welcoming to helped to host a experimental night of music. Please let them do what they do and give others a chance to put on great nights music or events in a venue like that we need.

Dale Marie

I first walked in to CG just over two years ago looking for a place to write. We’d just moved to Oxford and I knew nobody. On that first visit, I was made to feel so welcome I went back the next day, and the next. Before long, I was spending most days at CG; I’d found a productive creative space that also gave me the much-needed opportunity to socialise when I needed a break. I’m in my sixties now and it’s not always easy to make connections at my age but the overriding ambience at CG is one of inclusivity and kindness and I’ve made many friends since I first walked through that door. There is no other space in Oxford quite like it. If the cafe ever had to close its doors, it would be an unimaginable loss for so many of us who have found a safe space here.

Elizabeth Johnson

Common ground has been a supportive, engaging and creative space where I have met friends and new people. It is unique in Oxford.

Callum Friend

Common ground is where I went to my first open mic night after having lived in Oxford for a few years. It is a vital space for community led music and performance and art, and there just isn't anywhere else like it in Oxford so committed to this goal and it must be allowed to continue undisturbed.

Rebecca L Greene

2018/19 I had the pleasure of visiting Common Ground Cafe on a fairly regular basis and enjoyed the shared working environment, great food and socially motivated projects. It was also an honour to have an exhibition in the space January 2020 with help from Jake Bakus & colleagues about the Arts project I had been doing in HMP Springhill, Drawing Connections.

A brilliant space, filled with shared humanity, and in my mind an essential space in the world of today, for the encouragement of people to be the best they can be.

Almas S

Common ground has provided me a space to sit, be and do my research while surrounded by enthusiastic students, professionals, artists and doggos! For somebody who was struggling to find a place to make home at Oxford, Common Ground easily became one. Losing this place would be akin to losing the most important part of Oxford in creating community and safe space.

Veronika Gvozdovaite

When the war broke out in Ukraine, I couldn't find a place for myself. All I could bring myself to do was come to the Common Ground to pack supplies donated by the generous people of Oxford.
The Common Ground became my haven in that first week of war, a place where I felt I made a difference. Also a place I felt understood.

Common Ground hosted an open mic to collect donations. So many people from all over came and sang, read, shared. At some point a group of students started up Hej sokoły, a Polish war song, and we all sang (even though we didn't know Polish).
It was the most at home I have felt in Oxford. No other place like the Common Ground

Rory Torrens

Monday night open late thingy, my friend Harry was DJing and amongst loads of other bangers played one of my favourite Steely Dan songs 'glamour profession,' great night

Beth Chamberlain

I started working at Common Ground in January 2020, after being a regular customer over the previous year.

Working at Common Ground gave me the financial stability to get through my degree, to keep me fed, warm, and socially active. But it also gave me more than that. It gave me a community of colleagues, customers, and collaborators, many of whom remain my friends five years on.

Common Ground taught me about coffee, supply chains, fair trade, fair wages, good food, sustainable packaging, community organising, event planning, social impact, and so much more.

Common Ground connected me to the comedy world, via the incredible Alex Farrow and the wider Jericho Comedy family, leading to me taking my first steps into the comedy world.

Despite now living many miles away, and through my adventures many miles beyond, Common Ground remains a huge part of who I am and who I aspire to be. It shaped my vision of a fair and sustainable workplace, as well as an engaged and supportive community.

The Little Clarendon community, through COVID and beyond, came together to serve local residents and students in a time of hardship. We grew a truly unique, organic and resilient neighbourhood on this street, and it has gone from strength to strength ever since.

Ask any Oxford student in the area: it is a true institution, and I know many of my friends, colleagues, and peers feel the same way.

Please don’t let this place go. Now more than ever, we need this place and many more places like it, to preserve a sense of common good and belonging. To all those who played a part in my Common Ground life - thank you.

Alice Hilder Jarvis

Common Ground is my favourite place in the world. It's a warm and affordable place where I can spend the whole day. Oxford doesn't have anywhere else like it (and I don't think anywhere else does either, to be honest). It would be an immeasurable loss for Common Ground to be shut as part of redevelopment.

Lucy Radford

I am a volunteer with Cowley Community Closet, which has been running clothes swaps at Common Ground for nearly a year. The space at Common Ground feels so welcoming and inviting, whether I’m there to volunteer or just to get a coffee and enjoy the atmosphere. I know that without spaces like Common Ground, initiatives like the clothes swap would struggle or perhaps cease due to lack of suitable location, and I fervently hope that the space can continue in its current form so that Oxford doesn’t lose something truly valuable.

Kasturi Pindar

I lived in 25 Wellington Square for the two years before it was closed. During this time Common Ground provided a space to relax, socialise, study and work. CG had a significant positive impact on my time in Oxford. More than a cafe, CG have created a welcoming, multi-purpose space that acts as a community hub unlike anywhere else in Oxford. It is valued by so many and it would be a huge loss to the city if it was to close.

Emma D

Common Ground is where I feel most at home in Oxford. Since moving to London, I miss it everyday, and it is the first place I go after getting off the train. The community there is wonderful and welcoming, and chatting with the baristas always makes my day better <3

Ab Brightman

When I was 24 I decided to set up my own business, working with charities. At that time I had a very limited income but needed a place to come and work where I could feel inspired, drink delicious coffee and not stuck cold at home. Common Ground was the perfect place and became a really important part of my routine, which then helped me build the business to a point where I could afford a full time studio space to work from. I'm 30 now and the business is still thriving, but I still return for the coffee and vibes with friends and to get a change of scene often!

Julia Whatley

Common Ground is a marvellous and necessary place.

It's atmosphere is a unique mixture of café, workspace, library, study and studio as well as an incredibly comfortable sitting room, where one can invariably find a seat to spend quality time.

It has a book shop, a record shop, a clothes store. 

It offers a very wide variety of workshops, activities and events.

The congenial and relaxed atmosphere of Common Ground extends to the individual, University connected or otherwise, a feeling of genuine welcome.

The charming, eclectic mix of furniture and lighting is what one would perhaps find at home.

The staff at Common Ground discreetly create an atmosphere of absolute comfort and safety.

A wide selection of excellent drinks and snacks are available all day.

It is where people come to live...to experience life...the posters advertising events and the exhibitions of art on the walls are diverting, interesting and aesthetically add to the positive vibes...good music, good coffee, good talk.

I come to Common Ground very often spend the entire day drawing.

I've been a professional illustrator since 1978 and the wonderful, immensely valued and valuable space which it affords has helped me immeasurably to progress, both personally and professionally.

When I first came to Oxford I was not well at all.

I was dealing with various setbacks and couldn't draw at the time.

Piotr was then the proprietor of Common Ground and he was unfailingly kind to me, as all the staff were.

Eddie took over and developed the space into the superb space it affords today.

I continue, as well as so many other individuals, to benefit from and enjoy all time spent Common Ground.

Common Ground is, in my opinion, the absolute antithesis of the soulless, laptop driven, so called 'state of the art' arrid, prescribed study location...cables and technology are kept in their rightful place in Common Ground by diversity and positive, creative real life.

Diana Volpe

Time and time again, I found in Common Ground not only a welcoming and inclusive space, but one where to find community and solidarity. It was first on my list when I wanted to organise a fundraising event for the Campaign to Keep Campsfield Closed, the local migrant detention centre in Kidlington that the Home Office is planning to re-open. Alex, Eddy and the whole staff was extremely supportive from the start, and gave us a space that was so powerful we decided to afterwards collect the open mic performances for a zine. Nick, from the Curio bookshop downstairs, also allowed us to use the space for intimate, queer-inclusive events with local people seeking asylum.

As a local organiser, and Oxford University member working on asylum related matters, I would be heartbroken to see Common Ground go, to make space for more University buildings. The mornings I have spent writing in this space, as well as the evenings I have spent laughing, are some of the memories I will forever cherish the most about this city.

Cat Strydom

I stumbled across this place when I was having a bad day and it brightened up my day. I could immediately tell there was a strong community spirit and atmosphere. There is a wonderful coworking area that was very good for both relaxing and productivity and also at the time I visited they were supporting a local seller of vintage clothes and I got a warm jumper for the cold snap we had approaching. It's a beautiful space to build community ties and to support local businesses. I think it's a really important space and Oxford would be darker and worse off without such spaces.

Aiden Canaday

I run events at Common Ground quite regularly with Divine Schism, bringing musical artists from all around the world to Oxford and Common Ground has been a very positive and essential space for us since we began using it regularly in early 2023 - it's an incredible and welcoming cafe and event space. Everyone who has played there has loved the venue as a performance space due to the way it's run by Eddie, Alex and the team - it's an inclusive and unique venue within the live music scene of the UK and it's helped put Oxford on the map again through their diverse listings. We've hosted many young people's first live performances through to professional cult musicians who have toured all around the globe - everyone has loved their experience in equal measure and in turn has brought in a wide range of people to the space for the first time, with many coming back. Long live Common Ground and community it creates!

jui zaveri

the day after a rough breakup, my best friend nick decided it was time to get out of bed and go to our favourite cafe. getting out of bed? getting dressed? getting seen by people? there was nothing i wanted to do less. but i let him persuade me anyway. and to my surprise, the familiar warmth and chatter and colour of common ground made me feel better. we sat there, sipping our coffees (dirty chai for me, flat white for nick) and talked books, films, gossip, life, heartbreak, joy, friendship, and everything in between. ive been to common ground hundreds of times and each time, i leave happier than i went in. it feels like home.

Anony Mous

I moved to Oxford in 2021 from a neighbouring county. I didn't visit Common Ground initially as I didn't believe it could be as amazing as it looked on the website! I now regularly work from this co-working space and it provides me with an atmosphere in which I can be productive. My job is fully remote and I need the humdrum around me (from other people who are working too) in order to feel like I am part of the world and to work effectively. My house is too quiet and libraries also, they become very isolating spaces. Common Ground is the ONLY space in Oxford that will let you stay and work all day (without having to pay).

They serve amazing locally produced food and drinks supporting other local businesses. They run evening events showcasing local talent and providing a space for creativity. I show Common Ground off to visitors to Oxford as it is such an asset to our city. It is vital for those who do not have access to University spaces whilst welcoming students too. Without Common Ground I would no longer be proud to be in Oxford and I would despair at the lack of spaces that offer the perfect balance of peace and collaboration.

Amy Cox

I am lucky enough to have met lots of queer people in my first week in Oxford here. I felt so welcomed and safe, and that kind of space is so important.

Ezra Abraham

I've lived in Oxford for most of my life and don't see an alternative to Common ground should it be redeveloped. Common ground is a rare cultural meeting place that gives oxford students and locals the chance to share conversations, music and literature. For myself it's somewhere to talk music and browse the records but I am aware that many of my friends (some at the university some not) choose common ground to study and catch up over coffee. I've found a love of physical media in the form of mixing vinyl. Chris's choice of records has created a space that is affordable whilst also being full of quality music and his own experience in electronic music makes finding something so much more enjoyable. Coming in to browse records has become a weekly habit for me and my friends. I know there will be countless others of the Oxford electronic music scene that also share that habit. Which after the closure of many oxford venues in the last 5 years, is why Common ground has such an important role in the music scene of the city. The flow team also work hard to put on the shop's regular music sessions which have become the place to meet other local musicians and listen to live/mixed music. Should the physical meeting point disappear Oxford will be losing another vital community hub.

Zoe McGarrick

I met a lot of people in Common Ground when I first moved to Oxford, thanks to my flatmate working there. I was able to make friends and build connections that I otherwise would have struggled to. Common Ground is not inly home to a cafe and community hub, but a records shop, charity clothing rails, it has hosted various incredible events that have aimed to bring people from all walks of life in Oxford closer together, something that is needed now more than ever. Curious Bookshop is a part of Common Ground, underneath in an old bank vault. I made book-ish connections here, found new friends and organised events to hep launch my own work as well as network. I am thankful for the warmth and opportunities that flood Common Ground.

Logan Kunaka

Common Ground. A beautiful space full of beautiful smiles. A silky duality nestled amongst the various hues of Oxford City. While Earthy coffee smells and cheerful chinwags lighten up Little Clarendon Street by day, a gravitational dynamicism engulfs the space in the evening where live music and comedy conquer the night. Deep bass grooves possess our bodies, ethereal melodies persuade our minds to wander.

This accessible, clean, gem of a space caters to all. It is rare for a venue to consistently create core memories on a weekly basis, and Common Ground is one of those special places.

Thank you Common Ground for the happy memories, may your gracious smile remain imprinted in the souls you have touched.

Connie Dean

Commonground has become home to the cowley community closet, allowing us to provide free clothes to anyone in need alongside championing an anti-capitalist, anti-waste ethos. Commonground has given us this space for free, which is quite frankly incredible. They constantly centre community care, access and cohesion. It is such a special place; having lived in many countries an cities it is safe to say I have never known another place like it. Any initiative that seeks to remove this space is actively damaging to roots that hold the community together.

Ellie Chen

When I first came to Oxford as a student several years ago, I was a very socially anxious individual. Then I started going to Common Ground to study, but also with the agenda to try and practise my way out of my social anxiety by nervously striking up conversations with the friendly baristas and other cafe goers. It was *such* a uniquely friendly and welcoming atmosphere that it transformed my experience of Oxford and of meeting new people. Years later, now that I live and and work in this city, it is still of the most valuable and unique community spaces in Oxford, serving both town and gown alike. Few places bring people together like this one. This place has meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and its contribution to the city is so special!

Rawz

Common Ground is one of the last, if not the last places with a real community grassroots feel in the centre of Oxford. One of the last in the entire city. I've been to many great events there, hosted a few myself, and heard about even more I wish I could have made it to. It's the perfect place for meetings, laptop work and social gatherings too.

This feels like another case of the big bad university taking a wrecking ball to our community and the spaces we love while saying it wants to build cohesion and understanding. It's becoming the hallmark of 21st century Oxford.

Beth Caygill

As a non-Oxford student living in Oxford it can be hard to find the right workspace - and I don't ask for *that* much. Before I even step through the door I want to admire the progress of the latest work of art by the in-house neo-cubist painter. I want to sit on a church pew and be surrounded by art and artists. They must be serving good quality coffee from a local roaster, and equally good cakes (same conditions apply) to keep me going. The vibes have to be immaculate, with someone highly qualified in charge of the playlist, and ideally I should feel as though I could talk to anyone there.

Wait (*touches IEM*) - what?

Common Ground exists at the epicentre of a very important community of culture, learning and experimentation. It doesn't miss a beat; it provides the perfect solution to the often impersonal walls of the university (and to my non-existent office). CG won't conform because it shouldn't, and is successful because it doesn't, from Curio in the basement, selling pre-read books from a repurposed bank vault (the anti-capitalist metaphors abound) to Flow Records in the main workspace. It extends as much as it upholds, by offering opportunities for local artists, comedians, musicians, as well as those from further afield (did I mention I want to go to great gigs there, too?). The collective is a visionary group, capable of providing the right space at the right time.

For all its economic and social disparity, Oxford has the potential to be an equalizing city in terms of opportunity. Where the University often fails to be that force of initiative, there is nowhere quite like Common Ground. Time and time again I come back, for the coffee, the atmosphere, and on the lookout for how I can be a part of it. Jericho, and Oxford, needs CG as much as it needs all its local businesses (which would all be affected should there be an overhaul in Little Clarendon Street). For these and many other reasons I stand by it and I urge everyone who has used it once, twice, every day, to do the same. It is more than a shared office, and gives to the community only what it needs: space.

Cara Llew

Never have I left Common Ground feeling lonelier, sadder, or less inspired than I
arrived. It is a brilliant and necessary resource for improving mental health and reducing social isolation. Thank you for all your hard work, Common Ground!

Olivia Stock

As a young creative person living in Oxford, there really is nowhere better to hang out than Common Ground. It’s one of those places where you pop in to grab a quick coffee and end up leaving three hours later with a bag full of strange ambient records, locally-made art, some bargain books, a pair of vintage trousers and a handful of new friends.

Having watched the university slowly subsume the city throughout my lifetime, fun, creative spaces like Common Ground have become increasingly invaluable, offering a chance for people from all walks of life to explore their interests and feel seen. The team at Common Ground understand that better than anyone, and have worked tirelessly to create a one-of-a-kind hub for collaboration and creativity in Oxford. Losing it would be an immense blow to the local community — and a huge step back in progress for the city. Long live CG!

Rowan Ellett

I have written many poems, read many books, bought even more books from Curio below and met some fantastic people. The coffee is always excellent and served with a smile. A community of artists, authors, Oxford’s finest all bunched together around many a table. An absolute joy to step through the door into Common Ground.

Harriet Faulkner

I’m 37 and have lived in Oxford 8 years. In the last 5 of them I’ve been going to events at common ground. I’ve been to beautiful open house talks (very interesting and enlightening), amazing festival put on by divine schism with bands that usually wouldn’t have space in mainstream venues, catweazle, and studied there surrounded by like minded people and good coffee. This space is central to a life in Oxford which isn’t for the rich but itself is rich in cultural events. Oxford is full of spaces for people wealth. Landlords, this space is so special, please please extend your generosity and save it. It has events which touch thousands of Oxford inhabitants lives every year. We can’t afford to lose more spaces like it.

Lana Bryant

In March last year, I moved to Oxford from my home city in Australia. As a freshly eighteen year old i was terrified and unsure if this new city could possibly feel like home for my next few months there. My first day, a friend gave me a tour of Oxford and of course, this included Common Ground and the wonderful Curios. Although dreadfully jet-lagged I immediately felt the warmth radiating from the space. Over the next nine months, Common Ground came to be what i could easily refer to as my second home. When the excitement of being in a new place began to wear off, my morning coffee at common ground helped me to get up and out of the house every day. Not only this, it gave me a space where i felt safe to begin engaging with the new community around me. The Common Ground staff and the customers it attracts are among some of the friendliest, most down to earth people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. The first friend I made in the U.K was someone i met at Common Ground, most letters home and job applications written at common ground, most calls with my parents featuring, “Are you at Common Ground?”. And still, despite how much time i spent sitting there, I never felt unwelcome or as if i was taking up space.

When my friend and I played our first show together (at Common Ground) I was so grateful that we could play in a space that felt so supportive. Common Ground is an absolutely invaluable space in Oxford, one which is accessible to students and non-students alike. I have never seen or heard of what seems like a cafe doing so much to foster and facilitate a community in the way Common Ground does.
Thank you!

Richard Catherall

I have been part of the team running Gappy Tooth Industries, Oxford's eclectic music promotion team, since 2002. I do most of the booking and A&R work. We moved our monthly shows to Common Ground in April 2024 when our previous venue closed, and since then it's been a wonderful venue: the staff are positive and friendly, the customers like the laidback but professional atmosphere, and the artists enjoy the reception. We've had so much positive feedback about the venue from punters and performers.

What's great about the venue is, even though it's a simple little space, they are open to everything, with style, genre and even volume not a concern. We are also aware that our adventurous unsigned-acts model means that we don't always fill the venue - even though our mean turnout is very respectable - and the venue could probably find someone else to run events that might sell more drinks or involve less effort to set up, but they allow us to explore the creative avenues we want.

www.gappytooth.com

Dan Goren

There’s a certain kind of mentality that’s required to create authentically original new music in performance, a certain attitude of open mindedness and risk-taking. The open community of music makers which is Oxford Improvisers is an organisation which provides just that. However, it and the cultures around it and with which it intersects (including other forms of music making, dance, film and other visual arts) absolutely require publicly welcoming spaces in which to share what they do with the wider community. In the nearly 20 years I’ve been engaged in making events happen in Oxford, I’ve simply never known a better place in which to conduct such activities than Common Ground. The staff really understand what we do and how they can help to make events the success they are. The space itself and how it is organised is perfect in its flexibility. As well as performing, I held my 50th birthday there because I knew I could rely on it to provide the right sense of place in which to celebrate and share. It’s impossible to overstate just how unusual and valuable Common Ground is.

Richard Bell

I've been cooking to Common Ground regularly since 2021. As a postdoc in Oxford, it was an incredible space to work and to be in community, especially valuable after the isolation caused by COVID. Now that I work in another city but still live in Oxford (and am trying to navigate precarious academic work), it's been invaluable not just as a remote working space, but as a place that's stopped me feeling rootless and isolated. The remarkable achievement of Common Ground is its ability to be so many things to so many people in a way that bridges the often separate worlds that make up Oxford. There are so few spaces where the university and town come together to build community, and the university should value it for that alone. Its closure would be a massive cultural and communal loss to the city.

Karen Kay

I put my one-woman fantasy musical on at Common Ground as part of the Common Ground Sounds scheme. In my experience as an independent performing artist in Oxford, affordable and suitable venues are as common as hen’s teeth. This much needed scheme provides opportunities for emerging performing artists of all kinds, to put on an event at a low cost. Alex, Eddie and Nick could not have been more supportive, enthusiastic and lovely. Everything was taken care of: selling of tickets; help putting up posters; getting the space ready on the night; front of house; cups of coffee; sound engineering and selling of refreshments. As a performing artist whose work doesn’t fit neatly into a genre, having a place like Common Ground is a great joy. It feels like a huge relief.

Common Ground is a relaxed, friendly and welcoming space. The upstairs space is one of a kind; the team is one of a kind and the downstairs bookshop is like nowhere else either. It’s kind of magical really.

Seems like many hearts would break if Common Ground could not continue. It’s irreplaceable. Seems like Oxford would be a much poorer place without it too.

In short: I love Common Ground. Long may it continue!!

Noa Laquèche

Common Ground has become home to so much local community fostering: coworking, art fairs, live drawing, exhibitions, workshops... It has also gained the unanimous title of best gig venue in Oxford, for evening events such as live concerts, comedy, open mics, poetry readings, etc.

Common Ground is an invaluable space for community life in Oxford, and forcing them to close would be a slap in the face to the city's residents, who choose everyday to commit durably to this beautiful city otherwise so transient and university-focused. Save Common Ground!

Ian Hanham

As a relative newcomer to Oxford's music scene, I don't have stories of the venues that have been lost over the years; certainly not those 'over the river' from Cowley Road. What I do have is a lot of stories from Common Ground (I went to 22 gigs there in 2024, my most-visited venue). Every memory is a joyous one, in part due to the great music and the people in attendance but mostly because of something magical Eddie and his team have created here - the venue really does have a special aura.

I believe that Oxford desperately needs more locations like Common Ground, not fewer - the city is improved immeasurably by the music and associated culture that is drawn to, and generated from within, its walls. The stories on here confirm that I am not alone in this view - not the first time that Common Ground has given me the sense that I am part of a community when I'm there. I hope that will continue for a very long time.

Alice Hemming

Common Ground has been an accessible and affordable space in the City centre for people to meet and organise together for a better society. Over the years I’ve been to meetings and events in the space which have been really important for the cultural life of the city. With a lot of our live music venues being lost over the last few years since Covid, it is so important to have a space that is willing to nurture the music and creative scene by hosting gigs.

Sara Logie

I moved to Oxford 3 years ago from London. I worked in a coworking space called Kindred for 3 years that I loved and missed it until I found something down the road from me - Common Ground. This has a special welcoming vibe and is ESSENTIAL to the community. Oxford residents have little access to spaces - the majority of the city is consumed by the university and although I appreciate that without the university Oxford would have very little I am adamant that without the residents and locals and sharing spaces the university would also have nothing and the city would feel very empty out of term time so PLEASE keep this going. I don't use it as often as I should but it does a great coffee and welcomes dogs and you can meet some fab people in there. We cannot afford to lose another venue.