Unsold theatre tickets are to be given to people struggling with the cost of living in a cultural variation on food banks.
A London scheme, to be launched in the new year, will make about 1,000 tickets available each week to those who cannot afford to pay for cultural activities.
As well as theatre, the Ticket Bank will offer access to music, comedy and dance. Some of the capital’s leading cultural institutions, including the Barbican, the National Theatre and the Roundhouse, have signed up for the initiative, with more expected to join in January.
The Ticket Bank was the idea of Chris Sonnex, the artistic director of Cardboard Citizens. “There are brilliant people putting together food banks and heat banks, but that doesn’t give humanity its basic needs from a soul point of view. People who are suffering as a result of the cost of living also need access to community, entertainment and things that warm the soul,” he said.
“Art is a human right. And the tighter things get with people’s finances, the more they will be squeezed out of art.”
Sonnex took his idea to Caroline McCormick, the chair of the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation. She said cultural institutions that have unsold tickets often offer them at short notice for free to “people like me” who are connected to the arts sector, known as “papering”.
“Even shows that appear to be sold out sometimes have a couple of empty seats,” she said.
The Ticket Bank will partner with organisations such as the Trussell Trust, which runs food banks, the housing charities Centrepoint and Positive Action in Housing, and the Longford Trust, which supports young ex-prisoners. These organisations will provide people with access codes allowing them to book tickets under the scheme.
Tickets will be available for free, or for pay-what-you-can donations. “Even 10p will be welcome, and a way of maintaining the dignity of people receiving the tickets,” said McCormick. The cost to venues will be minimal as the seats would otherwise be empty.
So far, seven arts organisations have signed up to provide tickets: the NT, the Roundhouse, the Barbican, the Almeida, Gate, Bush and Tara theatres. A further seven will be announced in January, and McCormick is “in conversation” with cinemas about the scheme.
“My hope is that other parts of the UK will take on the idea and replicate it in their areas,” she said.
Sonnex said there were “a million different barriers [to accessing the arts] but one of the biggest is ticket prices”.
While growing up on an inner London council estate, he said he could not recollect ever going to an art gallery. “I don’t think I went to a museum unless the school told me to go there. I lived five minutes from a renowned theatre, but I didn’t even know it was a theatre. So it’s important to reach as many people as possible to say: this is for you. That never really happened with me.”
He added: “If you reach out to people who have never gone to the theatre, and can’t afford it, then in years to come you might find they come back and say I really liked that and now I’ve got some money so I’m going to spend it [on tickets]. It’s future-proofing in a world where audiences are dwindling and getting older.”
And, at the very least, he said, “if people are going to the theatre, they’ll be warm for a couple of hours”.
Unsold tickets from arts venues are also donated to Tickets for Good, which offers access to live cultural events to NHS workers and students.
To support the Ticket Bank by making a donation, visit culturalphilanthropyfoundation.co.uk/the-ticket-bank
