Today, Birmingham Children’s Hospital opened the new, fully accessible, 84-seat MediCinema – the largest MediCinema in the UK – following support from The Walt Disney Company (TWDC), the Julia Rausing Trust, and a £1m charity appeal by Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and MediCinema charity.
Charlotte Tudor, VP, Marketing Disney & Animation UK/EMEA and Paul Giggal, Chief Operating Officer at MediCinema, at the opening of Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s New MediCinema.
The opening marks the next chapter in MediCinema’s more than 25-year collaboration with TWDC. To celebrate, the red carpet was rolled out for patients at the MediCinema’s ‘premiere’ opening screening of Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film “Hoppers” screened ahead of its national cinema release on Friday 6 March. Upon arrival, the children were greeted by Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, which added to their excitement. The magic continued inside as patients enjoyed additional fun before ‘‘Hoppers’’ began.
For over 100 years, TWDC has positively impacted children and communities worldwide through its social purpose programmes. That legacy is at the heart of Movie Moments – a programme that reimagines hospital stays through the magic of movies. As part of this, TWDC has proudly collaborated with MediCinema for decades to bring movie magic to patients, their families, and the medical staff who care for them.
The MediCinema creates a space where patients and families, who sometimes spend weeks and months in hospital, can spend quality time together away from the wards, providing meaningful respite, reducing feelings of isolation, anxiety and stress, and providing some normality during what can be challenging times. The MediCinema will screen the latest films at no cost to the patients or the NHS.
Lee Jury, Senior Vice President, Studios Marketing at The Walt Disney Company EMEA, added: “Disney has been proud to partner with MediCinema for decades, united by a belief in the power of movies to lift spirits and bring people together. Seeing that impact within a hospital setting is profoundly meaningful. Marking the opening of the new MediCinema in Birmingham with a screening of Disney and Pixar’s ‘‘Hoppers’’ underscores how important this milestone is for all of us. This cinema will provide patients and their families with moments of comfort and joy for many years to come.”
Paul Giggal, COO of MediCinema, said: “We are thrilled to open our latest MediCinema in this prestigious hospital, our first serving the Midlands community. Cinema has an extraordinary ability to transport and comfort us and we see the difference our shared screen experience makes to patients and their families in hospitals every day. We are very grateful to everyone who has donated and are looking forward to working closely with the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and its staff to ensure that as many patients as possible here can benefit from visits to the MediCinema.”
Mark Brider, CEO of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “To see the ‘curtain go up’ on our new MediCinema is simply incredible. For our children to be transported from their clinical surroundings into a space where they can forget about being a patient for a short while and just be a normal kid, enjoying the latest Disney release with their family, is a gamechanger for every child’s experience at our hospital.“
For more information on The Walt Disney Company’s movie moments programme and wider support for hospitals across the Region please visit: https://thewaltdisneycompany.eu/moviemoments/