{"id":1045626,"date":"2026-06-23T20:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1045626\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T20:28:19","slug":"woolton-cinema-invites-community-to-help-decide-what-to-do-next-with-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1045626\/","title":{"rendered":"Woolton Cinema invites community to help decide what to do next with funds"},"content":{"rendered":"

A campaign to purchase the building was about to smash its deadline target back in May when an anonymous benefactor stepped in to buy Woolton Picture House and give Woolton Cinema Community Interest Company (CIC) a 101-year \u2018peppercorn\u2019 lease.<\/p>\n

The lease will cost just \u00a319.27 a year \u2013 a nod to the Picture House\u2019s original opening date, Boxing Day 1927.<\/p>\n

That meant all the money raised could go instead towards refurbishing the building, so now the CIC\u2019s directors are asking local residents and businesses who were so fantastic in supporting the campaign to help shape the cinema\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

With repairs underway, it is hosting a series of community meetings in June and July<\/p>\n

Iain Christie explains: <\/strong>\u201cThe idea of the meetings is to find out what people want the building to look like and what they want the money to be spent on.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight from the start we\u2019ve said it\u2019s not our building, it\u2019s a community building that belongs to everybody. Initially we were talking about raising about a couple of hundred thousand pounds to do some repairs, but then we found ourselves in the very strong position of having about half a million pounds in the bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see this as a brilliant opportunity to use that to leverage some more money from funding bodies, people like Arts Council and National Lottery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think there\u2019s a chance to spend the money wisely now and have the building set up for the next 60, 80 or 100 years, but we want to find out if that\u2019s what the community wants too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they say, let\u2019s just spend the money we\u2019ve got and get it open in whatever way we can, then we\u2019ll go with that, but judging by the first meeting we had people do seem very excited about trying to do as much work as we possibly can in the short and medium term.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the run-up to Christmas, the cinema is spending three weeks of every month doing essential repair work to electrics and toilets, as well as levelling paving to the rear of the cinema to make it more wheelchair accessible.<\/p>\n

\"Woolton<\/p>\n

The last weekend of the month will be dedicated to films, with \u201870s favourites like Saturday Night Fever and Freaky Friday making up the June programme, and \u201880s at the end of July when they\u2019ll screen classics including The Breakfast Club, Big and Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Iain says the rest of 2026 is about doing what\u2019s necessary in between screenings, then they could be focusing on a bigger picture.<\/p>\n

He said:<\/strong> \u201cIn the short term, our attitude is let\u2019s improve what we can improve and repair what we can repair while still leaving enough in the bank to leverage more funds to do more if that\u2019s what the community wants,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already put out a call to the local community for contractors, builders to work on these projects, and we\u2019ve been bombarded with people offering their time free or at cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people are really keen to help out, it\u2019s something they want to be a part of, and we like the idea that they might be in at Christmas to watch a film and be able to go \u2018I fitted those lights\u2019 or \u2018I tiled those toilets\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having raised a staggering \u00a3532,884 with its campaign, Iain says Woolton Cinema CIC should be an attractive proposition for funders so there\u2019s a chance to capitalise on that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very appealing community project from a funding point of view because we\u2019ve got money in the bank, we\u2019ve shown we can sell a lot of tickets \u2013 we sold 18,000 tickets while we were raising the funds \u2013 and 2,500 people donated so there\u2019s a big community demand for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want to strike while the iron\u2019s hot and try and raise as much as we can \u2013 how we spend that is down to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll get feedback from the community meetings and we\u2019re going to send out a survey to our full mailing list, then we\u2019ll take all that onboard and put some plans together. Hopefully once we\u2019ve got the plans we\u2019ll show them to the community at the July meetings, make sure they\u2019re happy and then we can start work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we launched the campaign to save Woolton Cinema, the community as a whole stepped forward and said we want this. This belongs to them, so we\u2019re not just here to talk in these meetings, we\u2019re here to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next community meeting at Woolton Cinema is on Wednesday June 24 at 6pm, then there\u2019ll be a further two in July, on Sunday July 19 at 2pm and Monday July 20 at 6pm.<\/p>\n

Get more from Woolton Cinema here.<\/a>
\nFind out more about Woolton Picture House being saved by surprise donation here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n