Chestnut Tree House in West Sussex is the latest young people’s hospice to be equipped with a cinema room thanks to AV industry charity Together for Cinema. Children and young adults at the hospice are now enjoying films on a regular basis, thanks to the support and generosity from the residential CI industry.
The only children’s hospice in Sussex, Chestnut Tree House cares for over 280 children and young adults with progressive life-limiting conditions. It offers support for the whole family, including psychological and bereavement support, end of life and short break care and sibling support.
Sarah Arnold, corporate fundraising manager at Chestnut Tree House. contacted Ian Morrish, sales manager at ISE, after reading about the work he has been doing in the Together for Short Lives newsletter. She was interested to find out more and whether a cinema install could be achieved at Chestnut Tree House as it would provide a great experience for the children. Meanwhile, Iain Brown of Kensington Home Technology had read about the scheme in the CEDIA newsletter and contacted Morrish, expressing his interest in managing an install.
Within weeks of Morrish and Brown visiting Chestnut Tree House, a preferred product list was established and contact was made with a number of manufacturers and distributors to see if they would be interested in getting involved. Companies such as Bowers & Wilkins, Crestron, Digi-box, Integra, Invision, Kaleidescape, RGB Communiations, Sapphire Screens and Redline Distribution generously donated a range of high end products.
The installation started soon after the initial visit. Access to the room was limited and meant running all the cables, installing the hardware, commissioning the system and testing everything in just two days. “We were worried about the timeframe for this project, but due to the can-do attitude from the team, we were able to complete the install in time,” said Brown. “As with most installs, there were a number of challenges. The biggest challenge was installing the speakers in the ceiling and running the cables. With some clever fishing and a great deal of perseverance, all seven speakers were installed. The whole experience has been very positive, both for me personally, and for the company as a whole. We can’t wait to start the next one.”
In addition to Brown himself, Kensington staff who worked on the install were Jason Vaughan, Dan Bray, Paul Anastasiou, Paul Grant, Aaron Gardien and Jorge Cuartero.
Chestnut Tree House opened its doors for its first film premiere in January 2014, where children and families enjoyed a private screening of Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. Ian Morrish has received some great positive feedback from everyone at Chesnut Tree House.
All products and services were sourced, supplied and installed free of charge. The approximate total cost of the install, including consultation, installation, products and other associated costs would normally have been in the region of £21,000 for an end user price.
“The new cinema installation will make a huge difference to the children and families who use Chestnut Tree House,” commented Sarah Arnold. “We have been using our computer room to show films but space and availability to use the room for this purpose has always been limited. For families caring for a sick child, a trip to the cinema is extremely difficult to organise which means that the whole family tend to miss out on an experience many of us take for granted. The new installation will mean that many more children and families can enjoy the simple pleasure of watching a film together without having to worry about things like transport and access for their poorly child, whilst still having the full medical support of the care team close at hand.”
DONATED KIT:
- Bowers & Wilkins: 7 x CCM80 speakers
- Crestron: MTX3 Controller and a MC3 processor
- Gefen (donated by Digi-Box): EXT-HDMISB-75, super booster 75ft cable
- Integra: 20.4 receiver
- JVC (donated by Invision): X7 projector
- Kaleidescape: Cinema 1 media server
- Middle Atlantic (donated by RGB Communications): C5 series 2 bay Credenza Rack
- Sapphire Screens (split donation with Dataflow IT): Sapphire Electric R/C projector 3m screen
- Velodyne (donated by Redline Distribution): SC600 subwoofer
All cables, mounts and other accessories were donated by Kensington Home Technology, which has also committed to be available for any servicing and technical queries post install.
Pictured (L-R) are Matt Berry, Iain Brown, Sarah Arnold, Ian Morrish and Layton Page.
To get involved in the scheme, contact Ian Morrish at [email protected] or +44 1372 454366.
