Medicinema, feel better with film

MediCinema builds, installs and runs state-of-the-art cinemas in hospitals and places of care, giving patients and their families the magic and joy of a night at the movies together.

We spoke with MediCinema to find out all about their operation, mission and how they’re helping children all over the UK.

The first MediCinema opened in 1999 at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. It was the brainchild of founder Christine Hill who had seen some children from St Thomas’ being wheeled outside by some nurses to give them something else to look at. Christine could see through the look on the children’s faces how much they appreciated being somewhere other than on the wards.

1. Is the initiative open to all children and what age groups is it aimed at?

MediCinema screen films for all age groups, young and old! Everyone is welcome, as long as the medical staff on the wards are happy to release them.

2. Can the power of films help children deal with the impact of illness and hospitalization?

We know from all our feedback from patients and their families, that a trip to one of our cinemas can take their minds away from their worries and being on the wards. It can be a real source of comfort and distraction to patients and families - particularly at the moment when visitors are restricted. That’s the wonderful thing about the power of a film, it can transport people from their everyday worlds for those few hours.
3. What are the themes of the films and how are the films picked?

We show all kinds of films for children, families and adults but would always make sure they were sensitively chosen for a hospital audience. We are lucky to have brilliant support from the film distributors who let us screen their films for free.

4. MediCinema has partnerships with Vue Cinemas and Disney, how did these partnerships come about?

These two partnerships began before I (Kat) started at MediCinema but have been fundamental to our organisation and have blossomed over time. Disney have supported us right from the very beginning and infact our very first film at our first MediCinema at St Thomas’ Hospital was a Disney film.

5. How has Covid-19 affected MediCinema and how has the charity adjusted?

Covid-19 has affected us in so many ways. We suspended our cinemas in the middle of March and in a month were able to quickly pivot to bring new and existing partners together to provide free films for patients on bedside screens. Over 7500 NHS patients have watched films on those bedside screens. We’ve also provided thousands of activity packs for children thanks to our ongoing partnership with Disney.

However, a large source of our income came from the public donating when they visited a Vue cinema and of course that dropped off as soon as cinemas shut. Pre-Covid we also ran nationwide preview screenings in conjunction with exhibitors and distributors where the public got to see a new film a few days before opening and all the proceeds came to MediCinema. We estimate that our projected income will be down by around £1 million by the end of the year.

6. There are plans to expand MediCinema to more hospitals by 2025, can you tell us about this?

Our vision has always been for many more patients to benefit from MediCinema and we are both looking to double our number of cinemas and triple the number of people benefitting. Given Covid the timelines for that will likely be slower than originally planned, but we will get there. We put our build plans on hold when this all kicked off, but I’m delighted to say that like our cinemas slowly reopening, these conversations are picking up again and we are developing our plans further with three sites specifically. And I’m delighted that Disney, one of our oldest and largest supporters, have pledged this year to support our next builds with a fantastic donation – so we are already on the way to fundraising to make these a reality.

7. How can people volunteer with MediCinema or donate?

The best way for people to currently support us is to help fundraise or to donate by going to www.medicinema.org.uk/donate Thank you!

After this conversation, we wanted to find out a bit more about MediCinema’s CEO Kat Mason, who kindly took time to answer Cinemama’s questions.

1. How long have you been with MediCinema and how does it feel to work for such an incredible organisation?

I’ve been with MediCinema since 2014 (and have had both my kids in that time), and it is truly rewarding and humbling to work for such a wonderful organisation, with such amazing people, in our small head office team, huge volunteer and nursing teams (450 volunteers and over 200 nurses help us run our screenings in our hospitals) volunteer trustee board, and all our partners and supporters. You just have to see a child’s face when they are snuggled up in their hospital bed next to their sibling or Mum and Dad watching the new Disney film, or a patient and their partner having a movie date night dressed in a hospital gown, to feel the very real power of cinema and film to make people feel better, feel normal, feel connected. Since I joined my mission has been to help us do what we do brilliantly, even better, and ensure that even more people can benefit. We have more than doubled the number of patients we reach each year since I started. During COVID the team worked so hard with our partners to find a way to continue offering free films at patients’ bedsides and activities for children to do on the wards. I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve for patients who are even more isolated at the moment. In the first six months, we’ve supported over 7,500 patients who’ve watched over 21,000 hours of films. And we’ve distributed over 17,000 activity packs to children in the hospitals. It’s a small piece of the puzzle to support the amazing care all our patients are receiving from the staff and hospitals, but we know the impact that has on a patient’s experience and wellbeing. It is priceless.

2. Most women have a hard time coming back to work after maternity leave but you had a particularly difficult challenge after yours. Could you tell us what it was like having to deal with a global pandemic when returning to MediCinema?

Ha ha. Well, yes. I got back from my second maternity leave on the 1st of March, moved house on the 6th and we shut our cinemas down on the 12th – not the return I had planned! But then one of the things I think parenthood teaches you is that plans are all well and good, but outside events often get in the way. And you have to just work out how to be flexible, adaptable but also positive and proactive, knowing that you will find a way through. I’m so proud of our fantastic but tiny team, it was clear straight from start that we needed to work out quickly how we were going to support our patients despite not being able to be physically open. And we have pivoted everything – from our fundraising, which usually relies heavily on people going to the cinema, to our communications ensuring they are uplifting and supporting our mission of connecting people and improving wellbeing through shared experiences, to our services, and working suddenly entirely remotely. Personally the full lockdown was rather a logistical challenge for me and my husband both working with two children aged 3 and 9 months when it all kicked off. It was full on, carving the day up in to shifts for work and shifts for childcare and then working once everyone was in bed – as well as keeping the house running, everyone fed and clean, and happy or not killing themselves (in the case of the toddler who learnt to walk, climb and jump through this and managed to chip out half his front teeth in the process!). And the endless crafts! On the plus side I’ve been able to more time with my children, which would not have happened before and I feel very lucky to have done that. I couldn’t have got through it without my wonderful husband Conrad and I working as a team and just pulling together. And without the support of the MediCinema team fitting meetings around when I could be there or not. They were so flexible.

3. Hospitals can feel quite scary and isolating. How does the cinema experience impact on patients and their families and carers?

Hospitals are scary places, and you are only there if you absolutely need to be. That often means pain, anxiety, loneliness, worry, a lack of feeling in control, a totally abnormal scenario, and not only that for you but for your family and friends too. It can really affect relationships; you lose your sense of self and independence. The shared cinema experience is all about regaining a little slice of normality, forgetting where you are and what you’re dealing with, having something fun to discuss and engage with your loved ones, ward-mates or the MediCinema volunteers about other than your condition, treatment or when the doctor is next coming to see you. And it is magical. We know it has a huge impact on patients from our surveys. 93% of those who took part said coming to a MediCinema helped them feel less isolated, and 92% felt it reduced their anxiety and stress. But the real impact comes out in what patients and their families tell us about how it helps and how much of a lifeline it provides.

4. What has been your proudest moment as CEO of MediCinema?

Gosh, I have so many proudest moments! Right now, I am so unbelievably proud of how we’ve responded to the pandemic and how the team has and continues to be creative, resilient, tenacious and good humoured through everything. Opening a new cinema for the first time was amazing and a real feat, and feels so special as you know the value that cinema will bring to the hospital and its patients for years to come. Working with patient Sienna, our wonderful patron Simon Pegg, and partners Vue to bring our cinema ad to the big screen across the country might be my highlight – as the reach that has given us, and the people who have heard about MediCinema as a result and either supported, or got in touch to fundraise, or asked how we can get a cinema in their local hospital. My proudest personal moments have been every time I go to a screening and see the patients enjoying the magic of cinema and being transported out of their reality into the fantastical world of film. That’s what we’re all about, and every person or family we can reach and help through a dark and difficult time they are facing is what makes me most proud.

You can get in touch with MediCinema through their channels:

Instagram: medicinema_charity

Twitter: @MediCinema

Facebook: @medicinema.org

And if you’d like to DONATE, here is the info: www.medicinema.org.uk/donate