MediCinema opemed at Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle (From The Northern Echo)

MediCinema opemed at Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle

8:25am Tuesday 15th December 2009 in

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Charity opens hospital cinema to cheer patients.

A CINEMA with a difference has opened in the North-East.

Instead of usherettes, patrons at the new MediCinema at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), Newcastle, are shown to their seats by nurses or have their wheelchairs or beds wheeled in to the auditorium.

It is only the third hospital cinema in the UK.

Backed by donations from North-East businesses, the cinema will allow hospital patients and their families and friends to watch the latest movies in comfort.

Yesterday’s launch was attended by patients, nursing staff, choristers from Newcastle Cathedral Choir and Star Wars characters.

To mark the occasion, Walt Disney allowed the new cinema to screen its latest animated feature, A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey.

The cinema will provide free cinema screenings for paediatric and adult patients and their family and friends.

Patients will be able to enjoy a true cinematic experience, with surround sound and digital projection. The auditorium also serves as a lecture theatre.

The project was supported by the Newcastle Healthcare Charity, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle shop Fenwick, the British Board of Film Classification, Vue Entertainment, Gradus and Newcastle companies Eomac and Johnson Wright Flooring.

Christine Hill, founder and chief executive of the Medi- Cinema charity, said: “We are most grateful to all involved in helping MediCinema to provide a true cinema ambience and experience. It would not have been possible for us to get this far without them.”

Sir Leonard Fenwick, chief executive of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The trust is committed to providing quality care and offering new facilities.

MediCinema more than fits this approach with the therapeutic benefits it offers to patients, their families and carers. The screening will provide a much welcome social occasion off the wards.”

To donate to the charity, go to medicinema.org.uk