City of Lincoln Council leaders have confirmed that the annual grant given to Lincoln Drill Hall will not be renewed, leaving the arts centre on the verge of closure.
A virtual council meeting held on Wednesday saw City of Lincoln Council leaders make the decision not to renew the service level agreement required to fund the Drill Hall.
An online petition with over 5,000 signatures was launched and generated enough attention to allow for the creators to give a presentation to councillors.
Rachel Burnett, one of the petition creators, gave an emotional presentation in which she called the Drill Hall “the lifeblood of Lincoln”.
She said: “Virtually all arts centres are run as not-for-profit organisations, asking them to be run like businesses would be like asking the NHS to make a profit.”
In a published report, the council said it had three options for the Drill Hall:
Agree to continue the agreement for another 3-5 years
Work with the Drill Hall in finding a new partner by matching an estimated £250,000 investment
Terminate the agreement and either don’t renew in March but make a final payment of £94,000 in September, or don’t renew and don’t provide a final instalment
The option selected was that the agreement would be terminated upon expiry in March 2021.
All six councillors present in the meeting voted unanimously in favour of option three and the imminent termination of the service level agreement.
Cllr Ric Metcalfe described the verdict as “one of the most difficult decisions” he has ever had to make as a councillor.
“No member of this council would have ever imagined being in the situation we are in here,” he said.
Council funding for the Drill Hall had been gradually reducing each year since 2013 when the grant peaked at £277,000 per year.
Since then, reductions of around £10-15,000 per year have been made, resulting in a scheduled £94,000 investment for September 2020.
Councillors stressed that the concerns voiced by the public weren’t falling on deaf ears, but the financial pressure was too much.
A major factor in the decision came from central government’s announcement that City of Lincoln Council must make reductions of around £1-£1.5 million to balance the budget.
Lincoln Drill Hall was forecast to see a £139,000 per year deficit pre-COVID-19, with that figure only rising as a result of the virus.
Cllr Bob Bushell commented: “We all recognise the valuable assets the Drill Hall and Lincoln Arts Trust are, but the inescapable fact is that the Drill Hall has struggled financially for quite some time.”
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Can you help us identify the woman in these CCTV images?
We are appealing for help to identify the woman shown in these CCTV images following a theft that occurred on Wednesday 22 June in Grimsby.
A 92-year-old woman was walking through Freshney Place Shopping centre, Grimsby when it is believed that her purse was taken from her shopping trolley.
The woman in these images we believe may be able to assist with our investigations and we would ask anyone who believes they recognise her to please contact us on our non-emergency 101 line quoting log 246 of 23 June.
A retired fire engine that used to operate in Grimsby was used in Ukraine to help combat a missile attack on a shopping centre, which the G7 has described as a ‘war crime’ by Russia.
On Monday, footage emerged of a missile striking a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky claiming is is evidence of a deliberate attack by Russia.
At least 20 people were killed and around 56 were injured following the incident, with G7 leaders saying the attack is considered a war crime. More than 1,000 people were inside the building when it was hit by the missile.
A familiar looking fire engine can be seen in video footage of the blaze shared across news outlets and social media platforms, in the form of an old Humberside Fire & Rescue vehicle.
Large shopping mall in Kremenchuk with hundreds of civilians inside has been hit by a Russian strike. Russia is a disgrace to humanity and it must face consequences. The response should be more heavy arms for Ukraine, more sanctions on Russia, and more businesses leaving Russia. pic.twitter.com/Uvi6fbyShK
The fire engine used to operate here in North East Lincolnshire, covering Grimsby and Immingham, and it is one of many vehicles sent out by Humberside Fire & Rescue to various countries across Europe in recent years.
Fire Aid recently sent a convoy of around 75 vehicles, equipment and clothing to Ukraine to help provide resources for recovery.
At least 20 people were killed in the incident. | Photo: BBC Look North
Area manager Matthew Sutcliffe told BBC Look North: “We’ve sent a number of fire engines since 2015 over there. These are end of life fire engines for us in Humberside, so we share them across Eastern Europe where we can.
“It’s an absolute tragedy what we saw yesterday. Firefighters there were using one of our old fire engines to protect the property but also save lives.”
"Absolute terrorism" – says @ZelenskyyUa and publishes a video of a deliberate missile strike on the Kremenchuk shopping center with people inside. Russian propaganda always lies: there is no coincidence, it is a deliberate blow to intimidate the population and mass victims. pic.twitter.com/Gx1f90cMta
During a regular nightly address to the nation on Monday, president Zelensky said: “The Russian missile hit this very object, purposefully. Obviously, that was the order. It is obvious that Russian assassins received such coordinates for this missile.
“They wanted to kill as many people as possible in a peaceful city, in a regular shopping mall.”
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