An Aberdeenshire voluntary group has been boosted by a lottery grant which ensures local film aficionados can enjoy their monthly trip to the movies.
Ellon Cinema, which operates from Victoria Hall, has been awarded a lottery grant of £4,350 to cover their “full film service” agency fees.
The cinema is run entirely by volunteers, the majority of whom are also Management Committee Members of the Victoria Hall Trust. Together, they organise and run film shows once or twice monthly for the benefit of the local community.
During the last two years, the organisation has raised money from various sources to fund the installation of surround sound and digital cinema facilities which allows it to screen recent releases in special computer file format.
The grant will fund the agent who, on behalf on the cinema, negotiates the release dates along with the encryption codes for the films.
A spokesman for the cinema said: “These are complex and time-consuming activities and at present, our volunteers have to pay an agent to provide this service.
“This also allows the Victoria Hall Trust to pay just one comprehensive invoice per month instead of several to the individual distributors. ”
“The award has been welcomed by all involved in providing the cinema venue for the community and will go forward into 2017 with much bolstered enthusiasm.”
The next showings at Ellon Cinema are:
Sunday, February 12 – Monster Trucks (PG) at 3 pm and La La Land (12A) at 6 pm.
Sunday, February 26 – Sing (U) at 3 pm and Jackie (15) at 6 pm
