Yes and no...

Lymm Folk Club used to meet at the Railway, Heatley, until it closed unexpectedly in the middle of Lymm Festival. We didn't have to pay to use the room.

We moved to the Spread Eagle in Lymm Village, and we don't have to pay to use that room. Snag is, the local Masonic Lodge have prior claim on the room for monthly meetings, so we cannot use the room if they need it.

Lymm Rugby Club is our main alternate venue which we use either when the Spread isn't available, or if we're anticipating more than the 75 punters the Spread will hold - Vin Garbutt and Martin Simpson are two such guests, where the additional capacity (120) will be needed. However, we do have to pay for the use of the room.

Occasionally we use the Saracen's Head at Warburton; again, we don't have to pay for the use of the room.

We have to budget over the year rather than for each individual night, otherwise we'd have to charge silly money for a Singers Night at the Rugby Club in order to break even on the night.

Fortunately, our 'quiet' nights usually see at least 30 present, so we don't have too much difficulty keeping things on an even keel.

In the main, pubs seem happy enough to accept the bar profits - at least thirty, often over sixty people they wouldn't otherwise have in their pub.

I'm not sure why the Rugby Club feel they have to charge... it's a committee decision, not one person.