Look To The Stars News: Medicinema

Stars Heal Patients With A Kiss

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Medicinema is a registered charity that has partnered with the Health Sector and the Film Industry, installing state-of-the-art cinemas on site in hospitals around the United Kingdom.

By creating purpose built cinemas in hospitals, Medicinema provides a much needed escape for the patients – it’s a welcome break from the hospital ward. Each cinema is specially designed to cater for beds and wheel chairs and nursing staff on duty throughout every Medicinema screening.

With nurses instead of usherettes, Medicinema harnesses the magic of the Silver Screen to help enrich the quality of life for patients. By screening the latest releases for patients young and old – including those in beds and on wheelchairs – patients and their families are able to escape the reality of hospital life.

As the lights dim and the film starts, with the big screen filled and Dolby Surround sound bursting into life, patients can be forgiven for thinking they are spending a night in the West End – apart from the occasional bleep of a patient’s monitor, you could be in a cinema!

Everyone needs a little escapism in their lives, especially if they’re in hospital. There is often not very much to look forward to so a visit to the cinema can give a much-needed boost to the spirits, providing the sort of family outing that is otherwise difficult in hospital. With the help and active support of the leading film distributors, Medicinema screens a wide variety of feature films from action and adventure to romantic comedies. Some films are even screened to Medicinema audiences before they go on general release.

As part of a new initiative, stars of the Silver Screen have donated kisses to celebrate ten years of Medicinema to help enhance therapeutic care for patients in hospitals around UK. To mark their 10th Anniversary, MediCinema is auctioning the HEALED WITH A KISS COLLECTION. The collection contains over 50 original signed lip prints from some of the biggest names in the Film Industry. The following are the stars who have donated Healed With A Kiss Lip Prints to help bring magic of the Silver Screen to hospital patients across UK: Madonna, Catherine Zeta Jones, Dame Helen Mirren, Sigourney Weaver, Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, John Hurt, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Helena Bonham Carter, Dame Judi Dench, Joan Collins, Glenn Close, Shirley MacLaine, Dame Diana Rigg, Kate Beckinsale, Thandie Newton, Nickolas Grace, Tim Roth, Jeremy Irons, Ben Stiller, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Broadbent, Honor Blackman, John Travolta, Claire Bloom, Martine McCutcheon, Greta Scacchi, Saffron Burrows, Geraldine Chaplin, Mariella Frostrup, Juliet Stevenson, Robbie Coltrane, Zoë Wanamaker, Cathy Tyson, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Andrews, Tommy Steele, Mark Addy, Kenneth Branagh, Alice Eve, and Dwayne Johnson.

The Auction party will be held in April 2009 and the complete Healed With A Kiss collection will be auctioned at the Medicinema Private Auction Party at The Movieunm, London’s biggest Film Memorabilia Museum.

The Healed With A Kiss Auction party will offer you the opportunity to own these highly collectable pieces of film memorabilia and the chance to rub shoulders with Movers and Shakers of the film industry. Hugh Edmeades, Christie’s International Auctioneer, will chair the auction in support of MediCinema. An exclusive drinks reception, live entertainment and a private tour will be followed by the auction of the healed with a kiss collection in support of MediCinema.

Here are some of the quotes from patients and their families whom MediCinema has touched:

“Really happy at the thought that I was not going to have to spend an evening on the ward, staring at a blank wall with no neighbours and chewing my lips to avoid being in pain”. Niamh.

“I completely forgot that I was in hospital, and that I had loads of needles in my arm, and when the film ended I thought “right, time to go home; and it was only when the lights came back on and I saw all the other beds and steelchairs that I remembered that I was in hospital”. Jesica, St Thomas patient.

If you would like to Bid for Original Signed Lip prints from the Stars of the Silver Screen and attend the Auction Party and bid in person please contact MediCinema: Tel:+44(0) 20 7188 3697 or email medicinema@gstt.nhs.uk.

If a celebrity lip print has caught your eye, you can make an advance bid before attending the Auction event in writing, on line or by telephone.

If you are unable to attend the Auction Party in person, you can secure an original signed lip print by placing “ABSENTEE” Bid, in writing, on line or by telephone. Please register your bid/s in the Healed with a Kiss Auction by contacting medicinema@gsst.nhs.uk or telephoning +44 (0) 20 7188 3697.

Once you have registered interest in placing an “Absentee” or advance bid, you will be contacted to confirm your bid and contact details.

For more information about the Auction Party please contact MediCinema on +44 (0) 20 7188 3697 or email medicinema@gstt.nhs.uk.

Liam Neeson Wants To Fight Child Sex Trade

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Irish actor Liam Neeson is considering resuming his work as a UNICEF Ambassador to aid in the struggle against the child sex trade.

The 56-year-old actor resigned as an ambassador for the organization last year, citing the fact that his image had been overused in charity campaigns and he was no longer serving the cause. But he now says he is ready to step back into his old shoes to fight the sex slave epidemic – a cause highlighted in his latest film, Taken.

“I had access to facts and figures and numbers of children that do disappear from Eastern Europe and Asia that would make the hair on the back of your neck curl,” Neeson told WENN. “It has been going on for many years and it still goes on. There is a big sex slave trade happening. I may have to go back to UNICEF. I got out of it because I had spent 10 years there and I thought they needed fresh blood instead of people looking at my face all the time. But it’s a wonderful organisation and every now and again I’d like to do something for them.”

Neeson’s charity endeavors of a different kind will soon see the light of day. In April, his lip prints will join a host of other celebrities taking part in the Healed With A Kiss charity auction to benefit Medicinema. More information can be found here.

Celebrity Lip Prints To Be Auctioned For Charity

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:00:00 -0000

A collection of over 50 original signed lip prints from some of the biggest names in film will be auctioned in April in support of the charity Medicinema.

Amongst the stars who have donated a Healed With A Kiss lip print are Keira Knightley, Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, John Travolta, Shirley MacLaine, Jeff Goldblum, Madonna, Jeremy Irons, Sigourney Weaver, Dame Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson and Glenn Close.

A window display, featuring copies of a selection of the kisses, will be unveiled in Fenwick Bond Street, London and Newcastle during the lead up to Valentine’s Day 2009. The entire collection of over 50 original Healed With A Kiss signed prints will be exhibited at The Movieum, County Hall, London in March 2009. The Exhibition will culminate with a Party on 2nd April at the Movieum, as the first in a series of events to help celebrate MediCinema’s 10th Anniversary year. The lip prints will be auctioned during the Party at the Movieum to help MediCinema bring the magic that is cinema to patients, including those in beds and wheelchairs, in hospitals around the UK.

Ewan McGregor, an active and longstanding Patron of the charity, said “I am delighted to participate in the Healed With a Kiss initiative, having seen at first hand how much patients and their families look forward to an all-encompassing cinema experience and welcome break from the daily routine of life on the hospital wards.”

For further information on the entire Healed With A Kiss collection of celebrity lip prints and details on how to bid for your own signed kiss from a star of the silver screen visit www.medicinema.org.uk.

Free Screenings For Sick Children

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:50:16 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

The Yorkhill Children’s Foundation is raising funds for the UK’s second Medicinema, to be built in the Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow. The charity needs to raise 300,000GBP, and though they are have already raised a large proportion of the money, they need a bit more help to reach their goal.

Movies can provide distraction and help relieve boredom and stress, but children confined to hospitals do not have the option to go out to the theatre. Medicinema offers sick children and their families the opportunity to enjoy a free film in a state-of-the-art cinema setting with easy access for wheelchairs and beds. Medicinema is supported by Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey.

Look To The Stars News: Medicinema

Stars Heal Patients With A Kiss

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Liam Neeson Wants To Fight Child Sex Trade

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