The Dorset Children’s Foundation (DCF) is located in Boscombe, just outside of Bournemouth, in Dorset.
The DCF was set up to improve and enrich the lives of children with disabilities and their families who are experiencing difficulties related to the impact of disability, including physical health, emotional strain, and social isolation through a range of provisions.
According to The Office National Statistics there are over 2,500 disabled children across Dorset, and the DCF has three charity shops with sales covering their modest overheads, hence 100% of all donations go to support local disabled children.
They are very hands-on and pride themselves on their personal approach.
www.thedcf.org
HOW INITIAL CONTACT WAS MADE:
It was back in September 2021 that I was approached by Luke and Wayne Crutcher from Living Home Technology in Dorset, asking if I’d be interested in Together For Cinema possibly helping at the DCF. This was a local charity that they had an empathy with and wanted to help as best they could.
Fast forward to August 2022 and we had completed what we knew was going to be a temporary cinema installation in the front of their retail unit in the Sovereign Shopping Centre. This room proved to be extremely popular but we knew at some point it would need to be relocated.
In May of 2024 the DCF contacted both Luke at Living Home Technology and myself to let us know that they had been able to secure a second location in the Sovereign Shopping Centre that was to be a long term home for their admin team and education and play services. It was here that they felt they had the perfect opportunity to create a more suitable room to create the cinema environment.
Luke and I arranged to visit on Monday June 10th and we found a facility that we both agreed had a very obvious area for us to create a new cinema room in.
Bearing in mind, we had already installed in one of the other units we were keen to use as much of the equipment from the previous installation as we could, and this we did. However, with every new room comes more opportunities and Luke was keen to secure some extra equipment to upgrade the cinema experience and create the right atmosphere in this new, and much more immersive, cinema room.
With only a limited amount of products needed we were lucky that we were able to secure exactly what we needed very quickly. A huge thank you to Starscape for providing a 2m diameter infinity ceiling light panel that will look amazing when it’s in place. Thanks also to M&K, Webro and Snap One for donating the ‘extra bits’ that we needed to complete the re-location and re-installation.
Another all round great effort by the industry to help make this room happen and ultimately bring some more magic moments to the children of Dorset.
Friday 4th October, 2024.
Friday 4th October, 2024.
• WEBRO (Cables): 1 x 100m 2-core speaker cable, 1 x 7.5m HDMI and 1 x box of CAT6
• STARSCAPE CEILINGS (Lighting): 1 x 2m circle of Infinity Ceiling Lights
• SNAP ONE / CONTROL4 (Lighting Control): 1 x Dual way dimmer switch with white faceplate
• M&K (Speakers): 2 x Wall mounted angled speakers
“To come.”
Luke and Wayne Crutcher, Directors, Living Home Technology.
“The installation team were fantastic. Renamed ‘The Dream Team’, they were friendly, punctual, professional and really clean workers.
The cinema itself is incredible and it really makes the space so very special and the sound is incredible. Now that we have it in our designated events venue it will be in constant use. It's such a special piece of kit and it will allow us to engage with our teenage children both for films and big screen gaming, for example, which has already generated great excitement.
For our most profoundly disabled children it creates a beautiful sensory space where we can screen soft sensory images and music. Also a great benefit for our wellness services for both parent/carers and children.
Our volunteers are very special to us and we have dedicated Thursday for film nights as a thank you to them. The possibilities are endless and we all so very grateful.”
Adrienne Coles, Head of Marketing, Dorset Children’s Foundation.
Monday December 16th saw the opening of the new facility at Dorset Childen's Foundation and part of this opening was dedicated to the great work that Living Home Technology had put in to create the new cinema space. We were joined on the day by about 30 other people that were involved with the development of this new facility in The Sovereign Centre in Boscombe. One of the guests has been a supporter of the DCF for several years, and this was Chris Billam-Smith, a former WBO cruiserweight boxing world champion, who kindly gave up his time to chat with many of the attendees. He was charming and engaging and it was clear that he is hugely supportive of the DCF, and grateful to all that helped create this new facility.
Team 'Living Home Technology' were present in force with directors Luke, Wayne and Wes, but also their younger brother Jake was there who had helped on the installation with his carpentry skills. At one point all four were chatting with Chris Billam-Smith and having a bit of a lads chat - think they all enjoyed it!
There were some very moving speeches and one particularly from a lady called Gemma Cardona who works at the DCF, and her son has epilepsy and cerebral palsy. He is a regular at this new facility and he, along with Gemma and the rest of his family, have already enjoyed several movies together. It was hard for Gemma to explain the impact of the new cinema room as her emotions got the better of her, as they did for many of us... It was however lovely to see what an impact the cinema room has already had.
Speeches over, and after a few photos and a couple of videos the afternoon wound up and we all made our way home. A lovely afternoon and great to really feel the difference the cinema room will make...., and for many years to come.
THANK YOU…, you have helped make a real difference to the work that the Dorset Children’s Foundation do, and in turn, have made a real difference to so many people’s lives.
The original installation in 2022 would have normally cost in the region of £12,000. To relocate, source new product and reinstall would have costs approximately £8,000. This is money that the DCF simply could never have found to purchase such a luxury.
The fact that we, as an industry, united have made this happen and then taken care of the relocation, means so much to the DCF and all those that will enjoy the new room in the years to come. It not only gives the children the opportunity to enjoy an excellent movie experience, but it also gives the volunteers a boost to know that there are industries like ours that are keen to help.
This was Together For Cinema’s 47th good cause cinema room installation and takes us to almost £1.2m of good cause installations. By the end of this year we will completed 51 cinema rooms with a ‘had they been paid for value’ of over £1.3m.
The team at the DCF are delighted with the end result and we as an industry can be proud again that we have stepped up to make a difference.
In closing I want to again thank Luke and Wayne and all the team at Living Home Technology for their input, skill and patience in making this happen. It’s not often we have to re-install but ‘Team Living Home Technology’ simply got on with it and made it happen…, again! Thank you…
For further details please contact Ian Morrish at:-
Work: 01372 454366 ♦ Mobile: 07768 398007 ♦ Email: ian@ad-con.uk
www.togetherforcinema.co.uk
Report Created by Ian Morrish. All quotes to be from Ian Morrish, unless otherwise stated.
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