New £1m MediCinema Appeal Announced To Bring The Magic Of The Movies To Our Sick Kids

We were thrilled to be joined by patient family Alex, Jasmine and Evie Cookson, from Kidderminster, at the launch of our £1m MediCinema Appeal, to build and run a fully accessible cinema – the largest of its kind in the UK and the first in the Midlands – inside our hospital, which will provide meaningful respite from the wards and improve wellbeing for both our long and short-term patients and their families.

Every year, our hospital cares for 100,000 of the UK’s sickest kids. Of our 40,000 annual inpatients, over 7,200 (approx. 20%) stay for up to three consecutive weeks, with just under 700 having to stay even longer. These lengthy stays can impact an entire family’s physical and mental health, with patients often feeling isolated from their parents, siblings and friends. Bringing the magic of the movies to our hospital through a shared cinema space will create positive experiences for thousands of patients and their families every year and at no cost to them or the NHS.

This facility is a partnership with MediCinema, a charity which builds and operates cinemas screening the latest films in hospitals across the UK. According to MediCinema’s ongoing research, 93% of attendees say visiting the MediCinema reduces stress and anxiety and 94% say it reduces the isolation felt in hospital.  91% said it helped people to cope and supported their mental health.

A total of £1m was needed to make the cinema and its initial running costs a reality. Thanks to pledges of over £400,000 from our visionary network of Changemakers – made up of some of the region’s top business leaders, companies and entrepreneurs – we had just £600,000 left to raise in partnership with MediCinema. We launched a public fundraising campaign, while MediCinema drew on some funding support from its existing long-term partners.

The MediCinema is now housed in our hospital’s lecture theatre, a non-clinical space, which was converted to become a state-of-the-art cinema during evenings and weekends, while remaining as a place for staff training and education during the day.

The cinema is complete with 63 purpose-made, movie-style seats and is designed specially to accommodate wheelchairs, hospital beds and medical equipment to ensure as many patients as possible can access the screenings. It is also the largest MediCinema in operation, expected to provide around 260 screenings per annum and putting smiles on the faces of an estimated 5,000 attendees every year.

Daljit Athwal, chief nurse and midwifery officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re so excited to be able to bring a MediCinema to our patients. The inclusion of a cinema within our hospital will help reduce feelings of isolation and benefit patient recovery rates, bringing a little bit of magic to their stay, enabling them to create positive lifelong memories of their time spent in hospital.

“The cinema will create an opportunity for the whole family to come together for a shared experience, with nursing staff on hand to deliver any care needed. It will also allow our children to stay connected with their peers, ensuring they don’t miss out on the latest releases just because they’re sick.”

Colin Lawrence, MediCinema CEO, said: “We were absolutely delighted to announce our partnership with Birmingham Children’s Hospital and its Charity to bring a MediCinema to the heart of the Midlands. The immersive nature of the big screen really helps to transport patients and their families away from the challenging situations they are facing, giving them a sense of normality and time together away from the clinical setting of the wards. We know that our therapeutic services will make a real difference to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the community it serves.”

One family who believes the cinema will be a game-changer for their time spent in our hospital is the Cooksons, whose daughter, Evie, has been a patient since she was just two-days-old.  

At just 36-hours-old, Evie suddenly stopped breathing and suffered a cardiac arrest. Her dad, Alex, immediately began CPR while they waited for an ambulance to take her to her local hospital. She was quickly transferred to our hospital for intensive care to save her life.

Alex and Evie’s mum, Jas, were told Evie had sepsis and a bowel issue which required emergency surgery. After the operation Evie returned to Intensive Care where she remained for many weeks. Slowly, but surely, she began to get stronger, defying all the odds. However, her journey was anything but straightforward, with multiple bouts of sepsis and an additional 15 surgeries. The family were also trying to balance their time between Evie in hospital and her older sister, Esmae, at home.

At six months old, Evie was finally strong enough to go home. Now three-years-old, she is still under our hospital’s care and has had another five operations, as well as multiple blood transfusions. She also requires specialist infusions at home, which Alex and Jas have had to have extensive training to be able to administer and she remains a regular inpatient, often staying with us for weeks at a time.

Alex comments: “When Evie was a baby, having a cinema inside the hospital would’ve been ideal to allow us to spend time together as a family, with some normality. Now Evie’s older and still a regular inpatient, it’ll be great for the girls to spend time there together making the hospital feel like an exciting place to be.”

Works on our MediCinema started at the end of October and officially opened it doors in March.

The cinema is supported by MediCinema’s central team, who oversee operations and programming and deliver official film-themed activities to transform the hospital experience for patients.