We’ve been here in Whitley Bay for almost eight years now and prior to the pandemic, we were welcoming close to 80,000 visitors to see a film each year. We’d recently completed the second stage in our expansion; adding a new bar and two new screens and the entire community were benefiting from our ‘Pay As You Please’ pricing for the most recent films. We proudly showed an eclectic programme of the biggest Hollywood releases, high quality dramas, the best of British cinema and the highlights from world cinema.
We finally had the lift working!!! The builders were set to come in and finish the new entrance but now the building is locked up tight, as we all stay safe at home. We were really thriving and then like so many other businesses, it’s come to a standstill.
Lots of venues and businesses are going to really struggle through this. In all honesty, I can’t tell you what the cinema landscape will look like at the end of this. But what I can tell you is that, thanks to the government intervention and us being quite ‘lean’ (we’re a really small, friendly team) we’ll survive this. What we need now is something to survive this for.
So with that in mind, we are launching the ‘LOCAL HEROES FUND’. We believe a trip to the cinema is unique; it's a delight, a treat and a pleasure - nothing else can beat it for sheer escapism and sense of wonder. It can transport you to a different realm, place, time or even galaxy. There is a joy of experiencing within a crowd and the camaraderie of an audience. You laugh together, hold your breath together, live together.
At the end of this, what we can offer people is joy. So we’re asking people to ‘pay it forward’ and make a donation to our LOCAL HEROES FUND. This way we hope to give away 1000 vouchers to screenings when we reopen and give them to the people who have worked the hardest to get us through these dark days. We're using the last of our Film Hub North support to lunch this and our own funds to make the first £2,000 match-funded pound for pound. So for the first £2,000, every £1 you donate will be worth £2!
We’re not offering rewards (although if you supported our lift campaign and still haven’t picked up your reward it’s still here!). This isn't about having your name on the wall, I'd rather say thank you to your face when we see you next. All we're offering is a promise that in some small way we can say thank you to the incredible local people doing extraordinary things at the moment by offering them the chance for some escapism.
The rewards are the donations themselves, yes they'll help us as it means we know that we have admissions coming in, but also it's a simple way to say thank you to people who are going above and beyond in these difficult times. So if you can spare just one pound or fifty and if you can trust us to do right by local people, we will.
If we hit pass our target we’ll be able to offer more than just free vouchers; we have already reached out and are looking at offering a further discounted admission price for key workers, which would be incredible!
Owing to Crowdfunder's commitment to supporting small businesses they are not charging a fee for their platform (huge thanks!)