Together For Cinema has had an extremely successful year with eight projects completed and is now recognised as an AV industry good cause enterprise. We take a look at 2022 and the year ahead for the organisation.
Together For Cinema is an AV industry good cause enterprise that designs and installs home cinema rooms in children’s hospices and other appropriate locations across the UK. These rooms not only benefit the children and young adults, but also their families, carers, staff and volunteers. The idea for Together For Cinema was conceived over a decade ago. With seeds gently sewn and support, both financial and practical, gathered, the AV industry came together as a powerful, charitable force to bring the home cinema experience into the lives of terminally ill children.
From the very start, the product donations, and the skills and expertise, all so generously given have humbled the Together For Cinema team. When it started, the aim was to complete 25 installations by 2020. Not only was that achieved, but it is now well on its way to the next 25.
“This is nothing short of astounding,” says Ian Morrish, founder of Together For Cinema. “2021 had begun with Together For Cinema ‘on hold’ and its future in doubt. We’d hit the ‘25 by 2020’ target in September 2020, but with the impact of both the pandemic and Brexit, the world had changed making normal operation impossible, product supply limited, costs increased and our future uncertain.”
But, thanks to the unwavering support of the industry, 2021 ended with Together For Cinema more robust than ever, and a very bright and positive future to look forward to.
“In 2022, our first full calendar year of operating, saw us recognised as an AV industry good cause enterprise, and we completed another eight projects with an estimated commercial value of £261,000, were completed,” Ian recalls.
Seven of these are in children’s hospices: Jigsaw Children’s Hospice, part of Eden Valley, in Carlisle; Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, Loughborough; Dougie Mac Children’s Hospice, Stoke-on-Trent; Andy’s at St. Andrew’s Hospice, Grimsby; Julia’s House Children’s Hospice, Corfe Mullen, Dorset; St Oswald’s Children’s Hospice, Newcastle upon Tyne; and Demelza Children’s Hospice, Sittingbourne; with a further installation completed at the Dorset Children’s Foundation in Bournemouth.
“Each and every project is special, but of course there are some standout moments,” Ian continues. “In May, we opened our 31st cinema room at Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People in Loughborough, the opening of which was covered by BBC East Midlands.”
Rainbows was created in memory of Laura Moore, who sadly died in 1989 after a battle with Leukaemia. Laura’s favourite thing in the world was a rainbow and her parents, Harry and Gail, wanted to create something special in her memory. Today, Rainbows supports over 300 children and young people living with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.
Like all the children’s hospices Together For Cinema works with, Rainbows supports every child and young person to fulfil their potential, and helps families make the most of every precious moment, while capturing memories and keepsakes to treasure. The cinema room is an extra space that helps make that possible.
"This is the second installation we helped Together For Cinema with, the first being at Acorns Children’s Hospice in Walsall which was completed in January 2012,” says Gary Mills, director, Decorum Technology. “Both installations have been a pleasure to be involved with and we are delighted to help make a difference to so many children and young adults in and around both Walsall and now Loughborough.
“The equipment that was donated was all high-quality and I believe we have been able to create a fabulous cinema room facility that will stand the test of time and will be used and appreciated for many years to come. Commercial installs pay the bills but for job satisfaction, this is hard to beat.”
“The new Cinema Room provides the most incredible experience for our children, young people and their families at Rainbows,” notes Anne-Marie Rosak, head of Nursing and Clinical Operations at Rainbows Children’s Hospice. “For many of those who stay at our hospice, going to a cinema might not be a physical option, or they simply may not feel comfortable making that trip. For the families who are staying at Rainbows because their child is receiving end of life care, or palliative symptom control care, the Cinema Room is a place where they can make special memories.”
As 2022 draws to a close, Together For Cinema will have completed 37 cinema rooms, including its final installation of the year at St Oswalds in Gosforth, with a ‘paid for’ value of £910,000, and is in the early stages of planning of its Million Pound Ball, which will bring 300 people together to celebrate hitting £1m worth of installations.
“In addition to the work we continue to do on the cinema rooms, we attended the CEDIA London Summit, which was very successful and the feedback we continue to get is hugely encouraging,” says Ian. “We also attended the AV User Group networking event in London and we will again be at the fabulous EI Live! Show, whose comprehensive support we are very grateful for. We’ve also set up a recycling initiative, where we send useful equipment to places that can benefit from it. We will develop this properly towards the end of next year, but there is equipment available at the moment and we’re keen to get it to the right places.”
2023 is looking more positive than ever and the Together For Cinema team are already talking to seven new locations about cinema room installations; five at children’s hospices, a disabled centre for children and young adults, and at the Resources For Autism centre in North London.
“The industry has really come together for Together For Cinema. We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of you that has helped so far – you are just too numerous to list here!” Ian concludes. “But with seven installations, we need seven installers, seven more projectors, screens, AVRs, loudspeaker packages, racks, control, lighting etc, so if you can offer practical help or spread the word to installers, manufacturers and distributors who might be able to donate, we’d really appreciate it.
“Finally, I must thank all our sponsors who help enable Together For Cinema to operate, and ultimately help make these installations become a reality. We have about 50 sponsors, but as we develop our offering to the community, we have increased costs. Please help if you can, we need a few more sponsors to hit our 2023 budget. Maybe you, too, can become one of the companies that help ‘make it happen’.”
If you want to offer your support, or if you know of a venue that looks after children and young adults, please contact Ian so he can see how Together For Cinema can help.
Thank you to Together For Cinema's 2022 sponsors!
Platinum Sponsors
Crestron | Hisense | LILIN | Monitor Audio
Gold Sponsors
AVPro Edge | AWE Europe | Bowers & Wilkins | Denon | GLO | Invision | Lutron | Meridian Audio | Origin Acoustics | Pulse Cinemas | QMotion | Rako Controls | RGB | Saville Group | Snap One
Silver Sponsors
Aldous Systems | Aquavision | Cambridge Audio | Connected Distribution | Future Automation | Gary Keene | Griffin 360 | IC Realtime | iCubed Home Cinema | Intuitive Homes | Karma AV | Nice | Pulse Eight | Ron Turpie | Webro
Bronze Sponsors
Amina | Chord Company | Cinema Rooms | Home Cinema Modules | Inside CI | Linn | Loud & Clear | MJ Acoustics | Primare | Smartcomm | Sony | Steinway Lyngdorf | Wisdom Audio
HiddenWires is proud to be supporting Together For Cinema with a regular update in each issue.