We all know kids love films and music. Visiting the cinema or a concert with family and friends can be great fun. However for many children with terminally ill conditions and life-threatening illnesses, perhaps surrounded by essential medical equipment, that is a simple pleasure they can no longer enjoy.
However what if the cinema or concert could come to them? In a move that draws upon the kindness and giving nature of many in the AV industry, Integrated Systems Europe has launched the SeeHearTouch charitable programme to help children’s hospice projects across Europe.
In an attempt to bring delight and distraction through entertainment to both children and their families, the programme will equip children’s hospices with the latest home-cinema and media technology.
Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events, explained: “The inspiration for SeeHearTouch comes from the work that our sales manager, Ian Morrish, has done in the UK, bringing together manufacturers, distributors and custom installers to deliver home-theatre systems to children’s hospices that would otherwise not be able to afford them.”
In 2012, ISE’s Board of Directors approved a proposal to develop the SeeHearTouch idea and take it a stage further.
Blackman explained: “That decision enables us to allocate part of our revenue each year to subsidising the work of industry stakeholders who undertake to design and install home theatres and media rooms in children’s hospices across the continent.”
Already the first installation has been completed, for the Björn Schulz Foundation, at the Irmengard-Hof, near the lake of Chiemsee in Bavaria. Donated as a hereditary lease by a Benedictine Abbey, the estate has been converted into a hospice for therapy and aftercare for severely ill children.
It also now features a home cinema installation. The sponsors donating their time and products were principally Claus Lohse and Stefan Mehre from a/c/t Beratungs & System in Munich who installed and integrated the cinema, while the equipment sponsors, all of whom gave their products free of charge, included Epson for a projector, Screenline for the screen, VIVATEQ which donated speakers and racks, Arcam which provided a surround sound receiver and Crestron for a media control system and touchpanel.
ISE has said it is very pleased with the result and has stated that it is to announce new projects after the ISE 2015 show.
