In the past, the months of July and August have often been quiet, allowing time to get on top of work backlogs, to re-engage with the family, to sort out the garden etc… There was of course some of this but with a great deal of time at the beginning of the year taken up with organising the £1m Celebration Dinner, there was lots to do to get back on track…
With nine good cause installations scheduled for this year we really needed to push on and get these as far advanced as we could…, and, along with help from installers and product suppliers alike, this is what we’ve been able to do. You can read more in our Installation Update but the facts are that 4 installations are now completed, 3 are in the process of being completed, one is scheduled to start in October and one in November.
Presuming all 9 installations are completed by the end of the year we will have reached 51 installations at a ‘had they been paid for value’ of just over £1.3m.
Very soon 37 lycra-clad industry colleagues with tackle the 55 miles from London (Clapham Junction) to the Brighton seafront. ‘Team TFC’ has grown from 3 last year, to 37 this year and I’ll be pushing for 50 of us next year! You can read more later in this report…
Thanks again to all who support and help make Together For Cinema happen.
Ian Morrish
Founder and Managing Director, Together For Cinema CIC
With one installation delayed to 2025 and a refit of a previous install dropping in we still have 9 installations to manage this year. As we know this is a big ask, but we’re in good shape and are on target to get them all finished by November.
The installations below are listed in ‘Completion Date’ order, though as we all know sometimes installations don’t run to schedule! The current status is as follows:-
- East Anglia Children’s Hospices (EACH), Milton, Cambridgeshire. Installer: thinkingbricks. Completed June 2024. Click here to read the full report.
- Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle, Tyne & Wear. Installer: Wakefields. Completed June 2024. Click here to read the full report.
- Jak’s Den / Team Jak Foundation, Livingston, Scotland. Installer: Limitless Automation. Completed July 2024. Click here to read the full report.
- Robin House Children’s Hospice, Balloch, Scotland. Installer: Loud and Clear. Completed July 2024. Click here to read the full report.
- Ronald McDonald House Charity, Birmingham. Installer: The Big Picture. Expected completion date: September 2024.
- Once Upon A Smile, Manchester. Installer: Intuitive Homes. Expected completion date: September 2024.
- Dorset Children’s Foundation, Boscombe, Dorset. Installer: Living Home Technology. Expected completion date: September 2024.
- Ellenor Hospice for Children, Gravesend, Kent. Installer: iCubed Home Cinema. Expected completion date: October 2024.
- Fresh Futures, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Installer: Audiovation. Site visit done, design being worked on. Expected installation date: November 2024.
We are hugely grateful to the installers listed above for kindly taking on these installations and I am sure that they will find their journey to making a difference a rewarding one. As we all know the key to making these installations happen is a good installer and I reckon we have a pretty good bunch listed above. Thanks again to you all…
As we continue our work for 2024 it’s important for us to have as clear a picture as we can of what venues we will be working with next year. The list below is ever changing but I suspect we will work with some of the venues listed below, maybe in 2025, maybe not. We keep in constant touch with these venues and hence the list below is ever changing.
- Bradford Hospital’s Charity, Bradford, West Yorkshire. Site visit planned for October.
- Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice, Arundel, West Sussex. A new more personal and private cinema and gaming room.
- Claire House Children’s Hospice, Liverpool. Still defining how best to utilise their new building.
- Derian House Children’s Hospice, Chorley, Manchester. Planning a new wing for young adults, building scheduled for 2025.
- Hope House Children's Hospices, Oswestry, Shropshire. Postponed from 2024, new room needs to be selected.
- Jolly Josh, Rochdale, North of Manchester. Run by a previous parent of achild who went to Derian House.
- Little Havens Children's Hospice, Benfleet, Essex. Awaiting some internal refurbishment, cinema room is part of their plan.
- Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford, West Yorkshire. We hope this will be our second of 9 for Marie Curie.
- Richard House Children’s Hospice, Beckton, East London. A new facility so we’re in at the very start. May drop to 2026.
- Ronald McDonald House Charity (RMHC), ?????. Not sure which location but we hope this will be our second install for RMHC.
- Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, Hampton, Middlesex. Refurbishment scheduled for late 2024.
- Teens Unite, Broxbourne, Middlesex. New building purchased in Feb 2024, still defining how best to use space.
We are of course in touch with many other venues and have a strong pipeline to call on, however, if you know
of anywhere that could benefit from our offering, please do let me know.
We have been extremely fortunate that over the past 3-4 years our industry, and some outside of the industry, have been extremely supportive and have helped fund our journey, and hence played a major part in all that Together For Cinema has achieved. For this we are hugely grateful, as are all of the beneficiaries, including the venues themselves, and the families and children that enjoy the fruits of our collaborative efforts.
Looking at our exciting plans for the coming years, it is essential that this support continues and increases year on year. Maintaining most, if not all of our current 75 Charitable Partners is essential. Encouraging a few to increase their level of support and attracting new Charitable Partners is essential if we are to continue the good work that we as an industry are delivering to our community.
Our current list of Charitable Partners reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of our industry and you can see this on our website by clicking here.
We will of course be appealing to all potential Charitable Partners towards the end of this year but please do encourage your immediate AV contacts to support. Our preferred partnership route is to have lots of small to medium donations giving us greater security but also a wide base of industry support from integrators, manufacturers, distributors etc…
With the above in mind the levels at which you, and/or your industry contacts can support are as follows:-
Bronze (£500) Silver (£1,000) Gold (£2,500) Platinum (£5,000)
Further detail can be found here or alternatively please contact Ian Morrish at ian@ad-con.uk to discuss
what options are open to you, and what difference you can help make.
Together For Cinema, and the difference we make to so many lives, can only continue with your support…
We have two active fundraising campaigns and we are grateful to all who are taking part to help further the good work of Together For Cinema.
The first is the ‘Team TFC’ London to Brighton cycle ride where we have 37 industry colleagues cycling the 55 miles from Clapham Common in London to the Brighton seafront. We also have one slightly crazy runner, and this is one of our directors, the incredible, and hugely committed Chris Pinder. The ride / run takes place on Sunday September 15th and we’re so grateful to all the shirt sponsors and also to Alltrade who are kindly hosting a post race drinks reception for the riders and their friends and families. Gods speed to you all…
With a target of £500 per person, and a little sponsorship revenue, we’re hoping that we can hit the £20,000 mark. However, first things first though, let’s get to the start and finish the ride! To donate, please go to:-
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/togetherforcinema
The second event is a much more challenging challenge and it involves Richard Caton of Janus Technology climbing a near 6,000 metre peak called Kyajo Ri in the Himalayas. An incredible challenge and one that we all hope brings success and a safe and timely return to the UK.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/together-for-cinema-sherpa-aid?qid=b88df3fe5cc462f8ee74adb7d6ba8759
Fundraising is important for any not for profit good cause so please try to support anyone who makes the effort
to help Together For Cinema. Your support and financial contributions really do make a huge difference!!
Listed below are a few other updates that might be of interest:-
The AV product repurposing programme has taken another step forward and we are now in the process of applying for a grant to
help fund the development of the proposed ‘marketplace’ style website. This grant is being assessed early in September and we will
hopefully hear of any financial allocation by the end of the month.
In order to progress our industry engagement and our outreach to good causes we will be contracting some assistance to develop
both our industry database as well as our good causes database, focusing on family care charities and Community Interest
Companies. We are looking at a minimum of 500 companies in each sector and this will ensure a steady flow of potential venues that
we can help, as well as more financial and skilled assistance to execute this work.
Yet again the organisers of the EI Live! show have very kindly given Together For Cinema a stand for us to base ourselves from. They
have also created all the necessary graphics and given us complimentary tickets for the Awards Dinner on September 18th.
Essential Install magazine gives us a double page spread every issue and also gave us comprehensive support at our £1m
Celebration Dinner in May.
Credit where credit is due…, so a public thank you to David Kitchener, Ian Kitchener and their team, for all that you have done to help
progress the good work of Together For Cinema. See you at the show!
Together For Cinema is progressing well and bearing in mind we have only being a registered Community Interest Company for 18 months we are in great shape with good results, a busy calender of work, some great projects, some money in the bank and most importantly we have the support and backing of our industry.
Support this year for the £1m Celebration Dinner, the London to Brighton ‘Team TFC’ cycle ride, as well as all our installations, has been fantastic and much appreciated by so many, and has helped make a difference to many more…
NB. Latest update is that 227 people have donated to the Team TFC Just Giving page and we’ve raised £11,000. Thanks to all runners and riders for making this happen – ever closer to our £15,000 Just Giving target!
All seems well, but it is so important that it stays this way so please support in whatever way you can. Continue your support of Together For Cinema, encourage others to support and help make sure that this now recognised and established industry good cause maintains it’s position and continue to make an important and positive difference in our community.
Onwards and upwards - lots to do!
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