Robin House Children’s Hospice is located in Balloch, just north of Glasgow, and is part of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS). They care for children throughout Scotland, and are there for the whole family. Whether they're at home, in hospital, or visiting at either Robin House, or their sister hospice in Kinross, the care team will give the care and support needed, when it’s needed.
It is a 'home from home' for families and has a range of facilities including a hydro pool, art room, den, a large accessible garden, lots of areas for relaxing and fun and now of course a state of the art cinema room. It also has quiet areas for reflection, bereavement support and care.
https://www.chas.org.uk/
We have been aware of Robin House in Balloch since 2011 when we first installed at Rachel House, their sister children’s hospice in Kinross, just north of Edinburgh.
Since 2011 we had kept in touch with the team at Robin House, but it wasn’t until 2021 that we were contacted by their Director of Fundraising and Communications with a view to seriously considering our offer of support.
Sometimes when we communicate directly our emails end up in Spam or aren’t taken seriously – ‘would you like a free cinema room’ - understandably people think there might be a catch. Fortunately with Together For Short Lives publishing articles in their regular newsletter it gave Robin House the confidence to contact us and the belief that we could, and would, deliver on our offer.
Initially we had spoken to Stuart Lillis from Limitless Automation about this installation. Stuart had been keen to get involved with a Together For Cinema installation and had been ‘in the wings’ for something in Scotland for several months. With this in mind, we arranged a site visit on December 5th, 2023.
After our site visit, the option of an installation at the Team Jak Foundation in Livingston, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, was presented to us. With Stuart living in Livingston it seemed sensible for him to switch to this install, which he kindly did…
Fortunately Allan Boyd and Barry Christie from Loud & Clear had said they would love to help at Robin House and kindly took on the installation. This worked out perfectly as they were the team that originally installed at Rachel House in Kinross in 2011, and they have a showroom in Glasgow, as well as Edinburgh, and hence were only a few miles away from Robin House in Balloch.
A date was set and Allan and Barry went to Robin House on Friday 26th January to assess the room.
During our initial meeting with Stuart Lillis we had an idea of what could be done with the space that we had to work with. It was an open area that was walled on three sides but open the whole length on the right viewing side. We proposed a stud wall or some curtains but there were challenges with both of these suggestions. There were also challenges using a projector and projection screen.
Fast forward 7 weeks, and with Allan and Barry coming to the same conclusions, we set about designing an installation that would work within the space available to us. The key decision being projection or a TV screen, and with the challenges and limitations we had it was an easy decision, an 85” TV screen was really our only solution.
With regards to the audio, ceiling speakers were an obvious choice, but with needing to be ‘directionally specific’ the Totem Mini Flex speakers were specified for the two front and centre speakers. A REL Sub was also proposed and these items would all combine to create a wonderful audio delivery.
The lighting and general control was decided on, Control4 and Rako, and we needed two (almost) floor to ceiling automated blinds for the windows either side of the unit that the screen was sitting in, and we felt the QMotion solution would work really well for these.
Cables from The Chord Company, an AVR from Marantz and a 128GB Apple TV box completed the kit list.
Great kit, and fortunately we had an experienced, well qualified and willing installer to create the magic at Robin House.
All brands mentioned above and listed below were ‘ready, willing and able’ to donate the items that we needed to make this room happen. With a comprehensive and quality kit list there’s always the concern that we may struggle to make it happen, however, everyone came good.
I’m not one to single out too many companies but on this occasion I’d like to thank Adam Dover at Sony for finding a suitable screen for us. Initially he was struggling to find one, but with a little digging internally, and some assistance from his colleagues, he found us an 85” monitor that will give us a great image and will be fed by the Apple TV, and other inputs. We’re of course grateful to all our product donors but I’m particularly grateful to Adam for making this happen.
Monday 22nd July, 2024.
Monday 29th July, 2024.
This took place on the afternoon of Tuesday 3rd September, 2024, and was attended by myself, Barry Christie and Kevin Trench from Loud and Clear, and a host of movie fans from Robin House including the CEO, the care team and children and parents. It was a wonderful afternoon and after the official ribbon cutting we were all invited in to watch a movie and enjoy some popcorn and a cup of tea.
The cinema facility looks great and even though we had one or two challenges along the way, the end result looks and sounds incredible. The joys of course of using a good installer – always the key to a great end result.
Seeing the families and their children settle down to watch a movie are some of the most important moments that I experience at Together For Cinema. It really does put everything into perspective, and makes all the hard work worthwhile. I wish I could bottle this feeling and share it with all those involved as it really hits home how important what we’re doing is.
Another wonderful installation and another great team effort by our industry…, onwards and upwards to the next one!!
”Loud & Clear was honoured to collaborate with Robin House Children’s Hospice and Ian Morrish from Together For Cinema to create a dedicated cinema space for the children, families and hospice staff.
With the fantastic support of Ian and Robin House’s team, we were able to transform the room into a cinematic experience which hopefully brings joy to everyone who uses it.
This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible donations from our suppliers, who provided top-tier audio-visual equipment. Their contributions ensured that the cinema offers a professional and immersive experience. Not to mention the Loud & Clear installers and sub-contractors who pulled everything together on site.
We are proud to have been a part of this meaningful project, and it is our hope that this cinema brings many moments of happiness and comfort to those who need it most at Robin House.”
Barry Christie, Director, Loud & Clear
“This is an amazing experience for the children and families who use Robin House. They go through such a hard time. Having a cinema room in Robin House means these parents and children can get the same type of experience as many other families take for granted. Often the families we support can’t do things together as a family, because so many public spaces aren’t suitable or accessible for a child who is seriously ill with a life-shortening condition. We are so grateful to Loud & Clear and Together for Cinema for making the magic happen. We could never have done this otherwise, and it means that hundreds of families will enjoy this experience for years to come. A massive big thank you.”
Rami Okasha, CHAS Chief Executive
THANK YOU…, you have helped make a real difference at Robin House, and in turn, have made a real difference to so many people’s lives.
We’re all aware that charities have to work very hard to secure the funding for most of their operational costs. With care being the priority, and good equipment and skilled staff being essential, there is little money left for what might be considered a luxury.
For Robin House this new cinema room with an 85” screen, wonderful audio, great lighting and control, is a wonderful addition to their sensory offering. At a normal paid for cost of about £22,000 it’s undoubtedly something that they would never normally have been able to install.
This was Together for Cinema’s 46th good cause cinema room installation and helped take the Together for Cinema good cause community delivery to very nearly £1.2m worth of installations, had they all been paid for.
For Barry Christie and Allan Boyd, and the extended Loud & Clear team, to bring the cinema experience in house at Robin House Children’s Hospice is a great gift that will be used and enjoyed by so many children and their families for many years to come, and, importantly, will help make many happy, and very treasured, memories…
This was Loud & Clear’s second Together For Cinema installation and they have worked willingly and tirelessly to create a room that delivers the cinema experience whilst working along some of the challenges of installing in an environment where care and operation governs so much of what can be done.
I hope the ‘feel good’ factor of being involved in such a project, and making a difference to so many lives, is worth more than any payment.
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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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