£5m to support the charity in delivering at least seven new in-hospital MediCinemas over the next decade
MediCinema is the charity dedicated to bringing the power of cinema to hospitals. The £5 million grant will allow more cinemas to be built across the country’s NHS hospitals.
The grant will enable the charity to accelerate its strategic ambition to be present in every NHS region, building its state-of-the-art hospital-based cinemas and thereby benefitting more patients every year. MediCinema is already in conversation with a number of new NHS Trust partners and this capital grant opens up the possibility of unlocking new sites that the charity may not otherwise have been able to consider due to the build costs.
All money for the build of a MediCinema is funded in partnership and exclusively by MediCinema and the hospital charity through private grants and public donations.
MediCinema already operates successfully in five NHS Trusts and Health Boards across the UK. With a 24-year track record, their cinema-based programmes improve the emotional, psychological, and physical health of patients. This includes reducing feelings of isolation, stress, and anxiety while enhancing patient resilience and supporting recovery.
The new grant follows a recent donation to MediCinema for Alder Hey Hospital that Julia Rausing had been working on in late 2023 for the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust. This project serves as an exemplar of what the new £5m donation will allow MediCinema to deliver. Construction on the cinema at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool begun this week, with the new space accommodating beds, wheelchairs, and medical equipment in order that patients may see the latest movies for free, transforming the hospital experience for children and young people at Alder Hey.
Colin Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer said:
“Julia Rausing was a passionate, long-term supporter of MediCinema, understanding the challenges of being in hospital and therefore the many benefits enabled by stepping away from the ward, engaging with and being inspired by film in a safe and immersive space. We are so grateful for this incredibly generous grant made in honour of Julia’s memory. Such a gift will influence and transform the future of our charity, enabling us to accelerate the expansion of our network of purpose built in-hospital cinemas towards a national presence. MediCinema will be able to deliver the impact of its services to so many more thousands of NHS patients and their families across the country every year, making a positive and lasting impact on their hospital experience.
This gift is a reminder of Julia’s generosity and dedication to Health and the Arts, complementing the recent and significant contribution made by The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust towards the build of a new MediCinema at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool which will open later this year.”