A new cinema room which will ‘create memories for years to come’ has been officially opened at Linden Cottage.
On Wednesday, 15 June, the people we support, staff, and supporters came together to celebrate the project which has transformed an unused room into a state-of-the-art cinema room for residents to enjoy.
Dean, who manages the East Sussex care home, said: “Audrey walked an incredible 10 miles last year and raised around £2,000 for FitzRoy. The plan was to spend it on an entertainment room, but thanks to Together for Cinema who donated and installed cinema equipment, we have been able to transform our old, outdated sensory room that we could no longer use into a wonderful cinema room for residents to enjoy.”
Ian Morrish, founder of Together for Cinema, said: “When I first heard about Linden Cottage and came down to visit I immediately knew we would to do anything we could to help. This wasn’t our usual project, we normally do bigger installations at children’s hospices, but when you meet people like Audrey and the rest of the team here at Linden, there’s no way we couldn’t have been involved. Linden Cottage has such a soul and a heart, and you get invested in the people as soon as you come here and visit.
“When we first came to view the room it was an unused sensory room and it needed quite a bit of work. We had a whole team involved that made it happen, seeing it now is just incredible.
“There’s something special about coming together and watching a film, it offers a little bit of escapism from the real world, and everyone deserves to have those moments to get away and get lost in a film.
The team have used the money Audrey raised to buy sofas, throws and rugs to make the room feel like a comfortable space for people to relax.
Support worker Sharon said: “Since we have been able to use the room, it has just been incredible. It’s a great little space for people to come and either have some alone time if they want, or to be able to sit and watch a film with their friends and family.
“It’s also a great place for more social occasions, Audrey loves to have a karaoke night here. It’s been such a great addition to Linden Cottage and means we can offer the people we support something different. But we’re not stopping there, we have plans to build a outdoor bar and restaurant area too.”
The mayoress of Uckfield, Jackie Love, also came to the opening to present flowers to Audrey for her contribution to the cinema room. Audrey was so proud and said ‘thank you Jackie’ with a huge smile on her face.
