‘It became a lifeline’: the charity bringing cinema to hospital patients

MediCinema, which custom-builds theatres in UK hospitals, will receive a Bafta for outstanding contribution to cinema. Patients who attend the screenings tell of the joy of escaping into movie magic‘MediCinema is part of my life,” says 12-year-old Lucas Rae-Shreenan. “It just takes me away from what else is happening.” Lucas has been going to screenings put on by the charity, which builds, installs and runs cinemas in hospitals, since before he could talk. His mother, Melanie, would pop him in the pram in front of the screen to get a break from the neonatal unit. On Sunday, that charity will receive the prestigious outstanding British contribution to cinema award at the Baftas.MediCinema has helped Lucas – who spent a sizeable chunk of his childhood at the Glasgow’s royal hospital for children, after he was born with an extremely rare chromosome disorder that means he cannot eat or drink – to become a committed film fan. Continue reading...