Almost 14 years after Together For Cinema started working with the residential AV industry to deliver cinema rooms to good causes, it has achieved Community Interest Company (CIC) status.
The formalisation also sees the appointment of four directors including Melanie Malcolm from Bespoke Home Cinemas.
Until March 2021, Together For Cinema was run in founder Ian Morrish’s spare time. In April 2021, the industry began to purchase sponsorship packages that Ian created to help fund the operation, and Together For Cinema became Ian’s main interest and primary source of income. The sponsorship money was entrusted to Ian and has always been spent wisely to help establish the Together For Cinema brand, and to make significant difference to the community with the installation of cinema rooms into children’s hospices. The structure proved the desire of the industry to support project, but there was a realisation that this was not sustainable long term and, that with such incredible industry goodwill and financial support, it was important to formalise the enterprise and become a CIC.
CICs were introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public good. They are intended to be easy to establish, with all the flexibility and certainty of the company form, but with some special features to ensure they are working for the benefit of the community. They are overseen by the Regulator of Community Interest Companies.
Becoming a CIC gives Together For Cinema greater robustness and credibility and will help to secure its future and its ability to continue to deliver cinema rooms to good causes. The formalisation also sees the appointment of four directors: Ian; Melanie Malcolm from Bespoke Home Cinemas; Cadaema Consulting Services’ David Parrett; and Chris Pinder from HDANYWHERE and OneAV. Each has the responsibility to protect and cradle the business, the main drive being to ensure that the good work continues.
“We are a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximize profit for shareholders and owners,” says Ian. “This is a great development for Together For Cinema and means that we are bound by the registrar at Companies House to be not for profit and to continue to deliver good to our community. It also formalises our position in our industry and will hopefully secure Together For Cinema as a recognised channel of good to our community for many years to come.”
Thank you to Gasoline Media Limited for writing this news feature. To get involved or support Together For Cinema please visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk