FRIENDS OF THE BIRKS CINEMA
It was in 2005 that Charlotte Flower stood up at a meeting in Aberfeldy and said ‘Has anyone noticed that the cinema is for sale?’ She and two others formed Friends of the Birks Cinema to explore the possibility of restoring the cinema, and the idea took off. There are now more than 420 members.
We raised funds to carry out preliminary work such as a feasibility study and preliminary architectural plans, and in 2009 we were able to buy the building and commission a design team with a grant from the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Regeneration Fund. We were delighted when actor Alan Cumming, a son of Aberfeldy, agreed to become our patron.
The Friends are now a formal company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity, with Charlotte Flower heading up a board of trustees. Detailed plans are complete, and fundraising to create the new 101 seat cinema and café-bar in the shell of the old building is under way. In spring 2011, the project was awarded £658,520 by the Scotland Rural Development Programme - half the sum needed to carry out the building work. Match funding for the SRDP grant now needs to be found if work is to start, as hoped, in summer 2012.
Many people, both local and further afield, have shown their support for the project by making donations and becoming members, and we would love to hear from you if you would like to join or help the group. And do please get in touch with suggestions or queries.
Take a look at the documentary made about the Birks Cinema campaign by students at Stirling University on YouTube.
Friends of the Birks Cinema is a Scottish Company limited by guarantee, and without a share capital, incorporated under Company Number SC360708 and is recognised as a Scottish Charity, registered under Scottish Charity Number SC041030. Registered Office: J & H Mitchell, 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, PH16 5BU.
Full details are in our formal Memorandum and Articles of Association.
We gratefully acknowledge grants and pledges from: Perth & Kinross Council, Dunard Fund, The Ward Blenkinsop Trust, Big Lottery Investing in Ideas Fund, Town Centre Regeneration Fund, Big Lottery Awards for All Fund, the Russell Trust, the Craignish Trust, The Mary Andrew Charitable Trust, The Watermill, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, Scotland Rural Development Programme, The Gannochy Trust, The Foyle Foundation, Scottish Hydro Griffin Community Fund, Creative Scotland.
