Our projector bid us farewell in December 2023, and being one of the oldest in the UK. it held on for longer than any of us had imagined. This allowed the charity to pause and reflect on how to move forward with cinema.

It’s no secret that cinema has been struggling nationally, with two cinema chains going into administration, and our own cinema now making a loss of £9,000. However, Tewkesbury has a rich cinema history, with its first screening more than 100 years and we’re determined to keep this cinema heritage going.

Luckily, in January 2024 we were kindly donated an end-of-life server to go into our projector. However, it’s unknown how long both the projector and server will last, and as they’re both end-of-life, the fact remains that we’ll still need to replace the projector.

Currently, we’re limiting the number of films we’re programming in the main auditorium to not exhaust the projector, while increasing the number of films we’re offering in our studio space.

Providing our film lovers with two different cinema experiences.

In February, we hosted a focus group to understand how we can make cinema more sustainable.

The plan is clear:

• Studio: we have a 25-seat studio where we’ve been showing films and the feedback from visitors has been positive. We’d like to raise £25,000 for a DCP. The focus group has indicated that there is interest in watching films in this space, which would allow us to get the number of screenings needed by the big distribution companies, while still giving our main auditorium projector more rest to extend its life span .
• Main auditorium: In the long-term, we’ll raise the £45,000 needed to replace the projector in the main auditorium as part of our 50-year anniversary celebrations next year.

The Roses venue was built in the early 70s and the electrics in the main auditorium, backstage and the panel need replacing. If our electrics fail, the venue may need to close so it’s vital that they are replaced as soon as possible.

We have asbestos backstage that's surveyed every year and it's currently safe.

But that could change at any time and we need to keep the environment safe for staff, performers and crew.

With your kind donations, earlier this year we removed the asbestos in the fire doors and replaced the doors. However, there is still other areas to remove and replace.

To remove the asbestos in the barn door would cost £10,000.