A carer is someone who spends a significant amount of their time providing unpaid support to a family member or friend. Social care and health services in particular have an important role in ensuring that carers are at the heart of the social care system; and are treated as expert partners in care. Skills for Care … More
Consider this: Less than 15% of American men are over six foot tall, yet almost 60% of corporate CEOs are over six foot tall. Less than 4% of American men are over six foot, two inches tall, yet more than 36% of corporate CEOs are over six foot, two inches tall. Why does this happen? … More
People affected by dementia often have to give up the things they love due to inaccessible and unsupportive environments. This includes visiting a cinema.
Cinemas have an important part to play in tackling the social and economic impact of dementia, by allowing people living with dementia to continue to participate in entertainment. Our new cinema guide, produced in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and UK Cinema Association, is designed to help cinemas improve their accessibility and become more dementia-friendly.
People living with dementia should be able to live the life they want to lead in their communities, irrespective of their condition. This will only be achieved with greater awareness, understanding, and support for those impacted by dementia. Becoming a dementia-friendly organisation means providing the opportunities to help every person with dementia continue to do the things they want to do and cinemas are central to this aim.
From your first family trip to the big screen to seeing the latest blockbusters with friends as a teenager, film is an immersive experience which can leave a profound and lasting impact on an individual. It can promote activity and stimulation of the mind; be an important tool for reminiscence, and is often associated with relaxation, engagement and, above all, enjoyment. By developing an understanding of dementia, cinemas can make a huge difference to people living with dementia.
This guide gives best practice advice on how to run dementia-friendly screenings and shares successful case studies from organisations already running. It aims to spread awareness of dementia-friendly screenings and encourages cinemas of all sizes to get involved.
We have also prepared a dementia friendly survey to assist with gathering data at your screenings.
Access the guide, along with further resources in the downloads section.
“Together, we’ve raised over £60 million for projects tackling some of society’s most important challenges.”
Conducting workplace investigations is one of the most challenging duties that HR professionals must take on. Workforce demographics are shifting. New laws are constantly popping up. Managers make mistakes because they aren’t properly trained or they’re under pressure to resolve complaints quickly. Employees are more aware of their rights.
Women in Film & TV (UK) is the leading membership organisation for women working in creative media in the UK and part of an international network of over 13,000 women. Members of our organisation come from a broad range of professions spanning the entire creative-media industry.
The ambition of this toolkit is to help your organisation – whether business, public sector or charitable – support the mental health and wellbeing of your employees. It will help you take positive actions to build a culture that champions good mental health and provide a greater understanding for how to help those who need more support.
Since summer 2018, BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) has been supporting four new release films each year to help exhibitors across the UK engage with more diverse audiences and programme more titles that might be perceived as being ‘risky’ or ‘too challenging’. Anyone can submit a film for consideration and we particularly welcome submissions from … More
On a fairly frequent basis – at events, during workshops, in articles – I’ve heard people say that young people aren’t that interested in the cinema anymore. Which would be a huge cause for concern if it were true. However, in her excellent recent article for Sight & Sound, Screening it for themselves: young DIY British … More
*** COVID GUIDANCE UPDATE ***
Research by Dimensions found that 90% of guests to autism friendly cinema screenings would feel safe going back to the cinema, with safety measures in place. Previous research has found that the autism friendly screenings are sometimes the only [quoted] “normal” activity people and families with autism can do together without fear of judgement. Autism friendly screenings are a safe space for people and families with autism, there isn’t fear of judgment and it’s an experience they can share with and talk about with friends and loved ones.
Going to autism friendly screenings was a routine for some guests, and routine can be very important for people with autism. Lockdown changed day-to-day life significantly so being able to go back to the cinema will offer some normalcy and respite.
Independent cinemas that are able to provide screenings are encouraged to support these audiences.
Dimensions created guidance and key messages to help exhibitors to adjust screenings to keep providing autism-friendly cinema to customers throughout covid.
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Back in 2011, Dimensions and the UK Cinema Association joined forces to help introduce regular autism-friendly screenings to the UK, developing the work begun by Picturehouse in collaboration with National Autistic Society (NAS) in 2009.
ODEON was one of the first UK cinema companies to roll out the delivery of autism-friendly screenings, in 40 sites across the country. Over 3,000 guests attended those screenings, since which time they have grown tremendously in terms of availability and popularity.
2016 marked the fifth anniversary of national autism-friendly screenings in the UK. In those first five years, there were 280,000 visits to 200 screenings across 300 sites operated by ODEON, Cineworld, Vue and Showcase Cinemas, with many more independent cinemas picking up the mantle and running regular programmes of their own.
With five national cinema chains, and a number of independent exhibitors, now partnering with Dimensions and committed to high quality, regular screenings, cinema is becoming increasingly accessible for guests with sensory sensitivity. Through this training, we aim to support more cinemas in the delivery of autism- friendly screenings.
The UK Cinema Association, supported by Dimensions and the BFI Film Audience Network, have produced this guide on how best to deliver and promote autism- friendly screenings at your cinemas. We hope you find it useful and it inspires you to consider putting on your own autism-friendly screenings.
Whilst this guide predominantly focuses on autism – and screenings are therefore referred to as autism-friendly screenings (AFS) – we know many cinemas use the terms ‘relaxed’ or ‘sensory friendly’. Whatever the name used, such screenings can benefit anyone who finds standard screenings overwhelming.
People with a broad range of cognitive conditions can look at what these screenings do differently to see if they might be of benefit to them.
Access the guide, along with further resources in the downloads section.
