Pay What you Decide set to be permanent at Lincoln Drill Hall

The unconventional scheme, which sees audiences book performances for free and decide how much to pay when they leave, Pay What You Decide, will continue throughout 2019 after the first two seasons proved a huge success.

Lincoln Drill Hall first introduced Pay What You Decide for its autumn programme last year.

The growing popularity of the scheme encouraged the charity-owned arts centre to trial the scheme once again this spring.

The experiment proved to be a huge success during both seasons, with 1,000 people booking Pay What You Decide performances from January this year up until June, and contributing an average of £5 to the Drill Hall per performance.

All proceeds are split between the venue and performers who receive a guaranteed sum.

From May, Pay What You Decide will be an option on a large number of innovative shows on a permanent basis.

The scheme has also been extended to include selected shows aimed at children and young people.

Lincoln Drill Hall’s CEO, Chris Kirkwood is confident the continuation of the scheme will encourage more people to explore the arts and support the charity as it faces funding cuts.

He said: “We’re pleased that we took the risk and implemented Pay What You Decide as it really has paid off.

“Not only has the scheme encouraged people to support us as a charity, it’s also opened the doors for people who might not have considered coming to a show before.

“We’re noticing that our audiences are becoming more and more diverse too which is really great as we look to roll out Pay What You Decide more widely.”

Find out more about upcoming Pay What You Decide performances and the ‘Be a Brick’ fundraising scheme at www.lincolndrillhall.com .