TOGETHER FOR CINEMA

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER

Ian Morrish, Founder of Together For Cinema (TFC), presents EI readers with another update on the AV and home cinema industry’s efforts to support this fantastic initiative.

It has been a very busy few months. Our application to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) is about to be submitted, and we have a wonderful new ‘expenses only’ partnership with Gasoline Media, leading to increased exposure in all media, however our expenses will increase. These and other factors mean that our budget for 2023 has increased by about £20K, so we are appealing now for new sponsors to help further the good that we’re delivering. Can you get involved? Sponsorship packages start at £500 per calendar year, please ask if you need more details of what sponsorship entails and what difference you can help make.

November marked our first full year of full time operation and I can confidently say that it has been a great success. This is of course my slightly biased opinion, but I’m optimistic that this is the general feeling of our industry and all those involved in helping make the magic happen in the venues that we work with.

This year we have seen eight completed good-cause cinema room projects for seven children’s hospices and one for the Dorset Children’s Foundation. Had these rooms been ‘paid for’ installations they would have cost in the region of £260,000. Thanks again to all the installers and the product donors for making these rooms happen.

We have been in touch with and/or visited all seven of our proposed installations for 2023, five at children’s hospices, a disabled centre for children and young adults in Surrey, and the Resources For Autism centre in North London. We will hit the £1,000,000 mark of good cause installations by the Summer of 2023.

Last year we also attended the EI Live! show, the Smart Building Awards and the CEDIA EMEA Awards. These events were tremendously successful for us and the feedback we continue to get is hugely encouraging. As an industry united to make a difference, we continue to make a real difference to thousands of children, young adults and their families and care teams.

INSTALLATION UPDATE: 2023 AND BEYOND

For 2023 we currently have seven installations in discussion. As with all plans, we have to be subject to change, so the list may change, however, we will target seven more installations for next year. The current installation plan is as follows: - Butterwick Children’s Hospice, Stockton-on-Tees.

Installer: Your Digital Lifestyle. - Cherry Trees, East Clandon.

Installer: Nethaus.

- Ellenor Hospice for Children and Adults , Gravesend.

Installer: TBC, though we believe we have someone. - Hope House Children’s Hospices, Oswestry.

Installer: TBC.

- Resources for Autism, London.

Installer: TBC, though we believe we have someone. - Richard House Children’s Hospice, London.

Installer: TBC, though we believe we have someone. - Robin House Children’s Hospice, Ballach.

Installer: TBC.

…and for the moment, this will be the basis of our delivery for 2023.

With seven installations we need seven installers and seven more projectors, screens, AVR’s, speaker packages, racks, control, lighting etc, so please do what you can to help and spread the word to those installers, manufacturers and distributors who might be able to donate.

SPONSORSHIP UPDATE

For 2022 Together For Cinema secured 47 industry sponsors at varying levels of commitment, ranging from our Bronze level at £500 up to our Platinum level at £5,000, and we are hugely grateful to every single one.

There are ambitious plans for 2023 and various commitments that we need to enter into which will further strengthen the longterm security of TFC as an industry recognised charitable organisation. Based on our income and expenditure forecast we need to generate a further £25,000, on top of what we generated in 2022, and our sponsorship appeal for 2023 will start very soon.

We operate on a very tight budget with limited expenses and ‘do the best we can’ to make a difference and promote this difference to our industry and beyond. But there is so much more that we can do and much of this ‘more that we can do’ needs funding.

Be it professional consultancy, legal or accountancy fees, PR and marketing assistance or luxury products to help make an installation as amazing as it can be, our expenses will undoubtedly increase for 2023. Can you help with a new sponsorship or at an increased level?

Packages start from £500/year and you will receive a Together For Cinema Sponsor Pack (plaque, pin badges etc) and some social and trade media exposure. Please get in touch if you feel you can help.

Together For Cinema togetherforcinema.co.uk