First-ever cinema opens in a standalone children’s hospital
Patients at Alder Hey’s Children’s NHS Foundation Trust now have the opportunity to watch the latest movies with their loved ones while still receiving the care they need.
Three organisations, including MediCinema, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation and Alder Hey Children’s Charity, have joined forces to deliver the first state-of-the-art cinema to open in a standalone paediatric hospital. It is also the first cinema to open in a hospital in the Northwest of England.
Credit: MediCinema
The movie theatre opened yesterday and to mark the occasion it hosted an exclusive screening of Walt Disney’s Moana 2 ahead of the films premiere in London’s Leicester Square, later in the day.
Disney has formed a number of partnerships with MediCinema throughout the charity’s 25-year history and this project is no exception. Not only did The Walt Disney Company help fund the creation of the cinema and grant the rights to an early screening of Moana, but they also helped arrange for Moana and Maui to meet the children before the film started.
Currently the cinema can accommodate 34 people and allows for children to attend screenings in their hospital beds or wheelchairs. The film theatre hosts four weekly screenings that are open to any patient and are completely free for children, their families and contributes no additional costs to the NHS.
Nathan Askew, chief nursing officier at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Our new MediCinema is amazing. It will bring joy through the power of movies to our children, young people and their families, some of whom can be at Alder Hey for long periods. Being able to escape their room and have a day out to the cinema with friends and family, whilst still receiving care, will mean so much to our children and young people.’
Moana greeting the children prior to them watching the new movie.
Echoing a similar tone, Kate, who is the mum of six-year-old Elise – a patient at Alder Hey – said the experience marked the ‘first time in three weeks that I’ve seen [my daughter] completely relaxed.’
According to MediCinema’s ongoing research, 88% of attendees believe that the experience supports mental health, 94% say it reduces the isolation often experienced in hospital and 93% claim it helps lessen stress and anxiety.
Colin Lawrence, chief executive officer at MediCinema, said: ‘We are so excited to be opening our latest MediCinema at this exceptional hospital, for the benefit of patients and communities of Liverpool and beyond. We believe that services to boost wellbeing can be transformational to how patients and their families experience care, and we look forward to working in close partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Charity and the Trust to provide valued and beneficial experiences for years to come.’
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