2021 began with Together For Cinema ‘on hold’ and with a doubtful future. Had we done all we were going to do? We’d hit the ‘25 by 2020’ good cause cinema room installations target in September 2020. With the impact of both the pandemic and Brexit the world had changed making normal engagement impossible, product supply had limitations, costs had increased and our futures were uncertain.
We ended 2021 with Together For Cinema more robust than ever, with a very bright and positive future. Industry support enabled me to commit full time to Together For Cinema from March 1st 2020 and there have been some great strides forward in delivering to our community and securing our future as an AV industry good cause enterprise, and hopefully, soon to be, registered charity.
Our list of achievements over the past 10 months include creating a robust and proven enterprise with a strong platform to move forward, securing the required revenue to run the operation, installing 4 new good cause cinema rooms, starting a product recycling program, generating regular and well-read Press, PR and Social Media exposure, dramatically increasing our Social Media following, increasing our network of potential donors for both products and installation services, increasing our good cause contact base with oganisations such as Medicinema, Resources for Autism etc… I believe we have exceeded our aspiration and surpassed expectation.
2022 is already secure with 6 (and likely to be 7) cinema room installations already in plan at children’s hospices, and with virtually all of our 2021 sponsors renewing their support for the coming year, we are looking financially secure. We still have some to confirm and we will need to secure a few more sponsors to hit our projected budget. I expect this will be achieved before the end of January, enabling Together For Cinema to focus on the job in hand which is helping our industry give back to the community.
Keep well, and please read on for more detail.
Ian Morrish
Founder, Together For Cinema
From a standing start we completed 4 installations this year with a normal installation value of about £115,000. This takes our total to 29 donated cinema rooms with a normal value of over £640,000. A big thank you to all who donated products and also to our 2021 Installation Partners as follows:-
Bespoke Home Cinemas
Who kindly installed at the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfield, Yorkshire.
Opened in August 2021.
Wessex AV
Who kindly installed at the Rose Road Association in Southampton, Hampshire.
Opened in September 2021.
Glo Audio Visual
Who kindly installed at Reubens Retreat in Glossop, Derbyshire.
Opened in December 2021.
AWE Europe
Who kindly installed at Linden Cottage in Uckfield, East Sussex.
Opened in December 2021.
We now have a probable 7 installations proposed and/or planned for 2022 with 6 installers already confirmed. This is the first time that we go into a year with a defined and near complete installation plan.
7 installations equates to a great deal of project management and a great deal of products that we will need donated. Our industry has been hugely supportive in the past, but we have never taken on this many installations in a year. I am of course optimistic that our industry will step up yet again to help make these rooms happen and continue to give back to our community.
The 7 venues, along with the committed installers, are as follows:-
Installer: Gary Mills of Decorum Technology.
Installer: Ian Burrow of Majik House.
Installer: Ben Cook of Sonic Vision.
Installer: Andy Bell of Trusted Technology.
Installer: Iain Brown of Wessex AV.
Installer: Gary Chapman of Creative Install.
Installer: TBC.
Thank you to all the installers who are kindly giving their time to make these very special cinema rooms happen.
For 2023 we are already talking to several locations and updates will follow over the course of the year.
2021 was a 10 month year for Together For Cinema and the first year budget was set low to see if there was the potential to actually create a structured good cause enterprise that had a secure future. The last ten months have proven this and we are now looking to become a registered charity. With a more formalised operation, and a full 12 month year ahead of us, as well as there being some ambitious aspirations and high expectations, the budget for 2022 has been increased accordingly.
With the above in mind I am delighted to report that virtually all of our thirty-four 2021 sponsors have renewed for 2022, and we are on the way to being financially secure for the whole year. However, we still need a few more sponsors to reach budget. Any extras monies in
the pot will all go towards the ‘icing on the cake’ of an installation, items such as the star ceiling effect, seating, a Karaoke Machine, a Slushy Maker etc…., basically those items that are harder for us to get donated every time.
We still need another 10 sponsors to achieve our budgeted goals for 2022. The sooner we can secure these sponsors, the sooner we can focus on completing the installations and developing our other activities to further the difference that we can all make in our community.
Can You Become One Of Our Sponsors?
If you are interested in becoming one of the Together For Cinema sponsors, you can do so from as little as £500. Every penny is committed to furthering the cause and making a difference. For further details of the sponsor packages available please email me at ian@ad-con.uk or call me on 07768 398007.
Please remember that Together For Cinema can only continue if it is backed by the AV industry.
Please consider being a sponsor…
Listed below are a few of the other positive recent developments that we’re delighted to report on:-
Charitable Status
Having now established that there is a positive future for Together For Cinema we are looking into applying for charitable status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. I’m hoping that we will be able to confirm this status within the next 2-3 months.
The Together For Cinema ‘Million Pound Ball‘
The normal value of our 29 completed good cause installations is now over £640,000, and this figure will increase to around £780,000 by the end of 2022, ever closer to our ‘by 2026’ target of £1,000,000. Once this target is reached we will have an industry ‘Million Pound Ball’ which will be a celebration of this achievement with as many of those involved along the way in attendance, plus, I hope, a few surprise celebrity appearances. I expect this event will be London in the Autumn of 2025.
The Together For Cinema 2021 Management Accounts
These have been collated and will give anyone requesting them an insight into how efficiently Together For Cinema has been run over the first ten months of full-time operation. Please let me know if you would like me to send you a copy of these.
Resources For Autism
A new contact and a new channel of good cause delivery.
Social Media Exposure and Following
2021 has seen our social media exposure grow and our LinkedIn following is now well over 2,500. We’ve posted regularly and have had lots of likes and comments - thank you for your engagement.
Being part of a collaborative AV industry effort that gives back to our community a little of what we all take for granted every day is a real privilege. Some of the joy that we witness at our cinema room openings would make your heart sing. For those of you that have witnessed this please spread the word and share the joy of making a real difference. For those of you that haven’t, I hope you get the chance one day…
2021 was a truly fabulous year with so many positives, and I am confident that 2022 will follow suit. There will be many more positive developments for Together For Cinema and it’s hugely exciting looking ahead at what we will achieve and what we will look to achieve in the future. Along with the wonderful support network of our Steering Committee, our Operational Partners, our Media Partners, our Installation Partners, our Sponsors and of course anyone who has helped source equipment, we will collaborate again and further established Together For Cinema as a recognised AV Industry good cause that has a clear, secure and well-backed future.
Thank you again for your support and remember…
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