I've run a folk club for the last 9 years, and believe me, we don't make a profit. When we first started, I had to pay for the hiring of the space, supper (which we provided), paying the performers, advertising and photocopying flyers. With the help of a raffle as well as the admission, I usually managed to break even, although if the crowd wasn't big, the performers didn't get paid as much. It was always made clear that we could only do a door deal.

Since 2000, we have been lucky to be in a space which was offered to us for free, and which is run like a coffee shop. If their takings are good, everybody benefits.

We nearly always have a guest artist, with the occasional singers' night thrown in, where the admission is less. Nobody seems to mind paying something. The fact is that if I didn't have these sometimes, I would be out of pocket.

On a couple of occasions I have decided to be brave and have a big name overseas artist and an agreed minimum fee. The first time I was burnt badly, and was not keen to take the gamble again. In the last 18 months I have started having occasional special Sunday afternoon concerts in addition to the usual Thursday nights - but always with someone well known and usually from overseas (although not always) that I was pretty sure would draw a good crowd.

I was confident enough with Les Barker to promise a good size minimum fee, and we were not disappointed. The place was packed, Les was handsomely rewarded, and we used some extra money to take him out to dinner afterwards. That was definitely one of our finer moments.

Another great occasion was a few months ago when we had El Greko and Cloudstreet at a Sunday afternnoon concert - not as financially rewarding as the Les Barker one, but we did okay, and of course it was a delightful afternoon!

There have been nights where the turnout has been so poor that I have wondered why we keep going at all, but the good ones come along often enough to make it worthwhile. I have seen people blossom as performers, who originally came along to the club as audience, who then took the first few tentative steps towards performing and gained experience by doing floorspots, eventually gaining the confidence to start performing as solo performers or with a group. I have actually had the pleasure on a few occasions to be able to invite some of these people back as guest performers and pay them! Those kinds of things are the best reward of all! Bugger the money!    I can't believe I said that :-)