Tis The Season!
IYA LUV!
We are heading into the last leg of our panto tour! I'm excited and I don't know whether it's for the 11 shows in 5 days or the thought of my Christmas Dinner soon approaching - either way, I've got lots to look forward too! I hope you're equally as excited about Christmas and spending time with the people you love the most!
Some of you that follow me on other social media platforms will know that along side my Panto performances, I am raising money for a charity called MediCinema. It is a cause I feel very passionate about and am striving to reach my fundraising target for.
So in aid of that, this blog is dedicated to this charity and the fantastic work that they do.
Let me first tell you a little bit about what they do!
MediCinema build, installs and runs state-of-the-art cinemas in hospitals and places of care, giving patients and their families the magic and joy of a night at the movies together.
I have been very fortunate in my endeavour to fundraise for this charity in that the senior fundraiser of the charity got in touch with me, expressing an immense amount of gratitude and offering even more stories about what their charity aims to achieve for the patients they help. I was immensely humbled to have established this contact and it even enlightened me further in my knowledge of their work and how they have helped patients and families.
Below are some stories from patients and families that I wanted to share with you!
David
David was in hospital for a quarter of a year with an infection in his spine. He explains what that was like and how MediCinema helped:
‘I suddenly woke up with this intense pain in my back and it just continued and continued. I simply couldn’t stand it, and so I hobbled up to Charing Cross Hospital. I was given pain killers, but then about six weeks later my legs started to feel very wobbly - like shivers, spasms, going up my legs. I simply could not walk. I was on my hands and knees, no power, in agony, pains thudding into my back all the time. I thought I was going to die.
‘I came to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and was here for 12 weeks including two weeks rehabilitation, trying to get this pain down and get me walking again. I couldn’t walk, I had to learn again; but the pain prevented me from really getting into it. I’d be screaming in pain.
‘When I found out there was a cinema in the hospital I was astonished! I thought it might be a room with a large screen. It’s a real cinema! It’s exactly the same as if you went to a multiplex cinema. It’s a real cinema with a brilliant screen, and comfortable seating, and more importantly - you have room for beds. And every time I go, I go in my bed. It’s just like going to the movies… well it is! It is going to the movies! You can be here and can forget about everything - I don’t feel any pain in my back when I’m in the cinema. I’m in my bed and I’m comfortable.
‘Trevor, in the bed next to me in the cinema, is in the same business. (Trevor is a screenwriter and David is an actor). We’ve never met before but we chatted as though we knew each other. We’ve met twice in the cinema now and we speak as if we’ve been away for a while and we just picked up again.
‘This is the first time I’ve been ill. I’m getting used to it now but in the beginning the whole thing was
alien to me. My spirits were very low when I came in here. After the first movie I saw here I came back to the ward and there were people chatting about their lives and things, the screens were drawn, and I just broke down and cried because I felt so sorry for myself, and one of the nurses said “Are you crying about the film David?” and I said no I was not, I was just being self-indulgent. I couldn’t help it. I just wept because I had seen the world I am out of temporarily, putting everything on hold.
‘Seeing a real cinema in a hospital, and screening the movies you screen, to me it was a revelation. A total joy. It gives you a more uplifting experience than anything you can imagine.’
Tara
“In hospital, I didn’t have connection with the outside world. I didn’t feel like I was living. And it’s things like going to the cinema that take you away from this place; the medications, the monotony of the day. At least with the cinema, you can go there, you know the nurses, you know they will help you, and you know you can just relax and stop thinking about what’s going on back in the ward. “I’m not being funny, but if I didn’t have the cinema, my cheese would have slipped off my cracker.”
Syeda
Syeda was a normal 20 year old when she caught an infection which would change her life forever.
'All of my organs collapsed, and I suffered from sepsis which resulted in me having multiple amputations, including losing both legs above the knee. For a long time, the doctors labelled me as ‘clinically dead’.
‘Before I fell ill I was your average 20 year old – going to university, going out with friends and enjoying life. When I fell ill, all of that was taken away from me. It was so hard being stuck in the same position, staring at the same four walls every day for months on end, just wishing for a change of scenery.
'MediCinema gave me a break from the monotony. It was what I would look forward to every Saturday and I remember counting down the hours till it was time to go again! Even if it was only for a couple of hours, it gave me the opportunity to feel like me again, to feel normal. It’s the only place in such a huge building of struggles and pain where you will hear so much laughter and see so many smiles. It felt like a community, where patients from so many different wards, each with their different journeys, would come together and forget what they were going through. I met so many other patients through the service, before the film starts the atmosphere is buzzing and everyone is talking. It’s a place to relax and share your own story, but also listen to others and be there for someone because you understand what they are going through.’
Marie
Marie is an outpatient at the Guy’s Cancer Centre with breast cancer and a regular MediCinema visitor. When we first spoke to her in 2016, she had been to MediCinema at least ten times, and she still comes today. She said:
‘I have enjoyed every visit to MediCinema very much. It is a brilliant concept which creates a fantastic chance for patients like me to 'escape from yourself' for a couple of hours. I've visited the hospital sometimes depressed, in pain, sad and upset and after the MediCinema 'treatment' I've left with a smile and feeling uplifted. For me, MediCinema is like a sanctuary where I can find some escape from my pain, fears, worry, medication and my condition. It's been a wonderful medicine that does more sometimes than taking pills.'
When I read these stories and quotes for the first time, I cried! The courage and honesty of these people was something I admired greatly, and it put into perspective my own problems and almost how little they are in comparison.
In a way, reading their experiences spurred me on even more to reach my fundraising target and more importantly to raise awareness of this fantastic charity. The concept is SO simple, but it can do so much!
Now then, down to the nitty gritty! This is what our money can do:
£12
Gives one patient a night at the movies.
£36
Gives one patient and their parents a family night out at the movies.
£72
Pays for one nurse to be present at the screening, so our patients are safe to enjoy the film.
Amazing, right? They need very little to make a difference.
This charity do something very special, something that I believe should be supported, so I ask you for your support in helping me reach my fundraising target. Tis' the season after all!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rebecca-phythian2
Lots of love,
Rebecca x
We are heading into the last leg of our panto tour! I'm excited and I don't know whether it's for the 11 shows in 5 days or the thought of my Christmas Dinner soon approaching - either way, I've got lots to look forward too! I hope you're equally as excited about Christmas and spending time with the people you love the most!
Some of you that follow me on other social media platforms will know that along side my Panto performances, I am raising money for a charity called MediCinema. It is a cause I feel very passionate about and am striving to reach my fundraising target for.
So in aid of that, this blog is dedicated to this charity and the fantastic work that they do.
Let me first tell you a little bit about what they do!
MediCinema build, installs and runs state-of-the-art cinemas in hospitals and places of care, giving patients and their families the magic and joy of a night at the movies together.
I have been very fortunate in my endeavour to fundraise for this charity in that the senior fundraiser of the charity got in touch with me, expressing an immense amount of gratitude and offering even more stories about what their charity aims to achieve for the patients they help. I was immensely humbled to have established this contact and it even enlightened me further in my knowledge of their work and how they have helped patients and families.
Below are some stories from patients and families that I wanted to share with you!
Alexander
When two-year-old Alexander couldn’t stand up a few days after catching chicken pox, the out of hours doctor sent him straight to A&E in Watford where they found he had septic arthritis in his knee. He was rushed in an ambulance to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, 15 miles away. There he was kept in isolation for two whole weeks and only left his room to have operations or tests.
His mum, Gabby explains how MediCinema helped:
‘For him to get out of the room for a decent amount of time was so good. Everybody he saw at hospital he was wary of because he thought he was going to be poked or prodded, but once he settled down he was really excited. He crawled for the first time in two weeks. It was really nice for him to see other children, too, and I was really excited, myself!
‘For me, it was nice to chat to other parents and watch something other than CBeebies! It made me switch off. Plus for parents of children – it’s hard work. You forget that yourself. You need to make sure you keep yourself sane. MediCinema does exactly that.
‘You can’t underestimate the difference it can make to a family – to be in the cinema but still safely in hospital. Thank you so much.’
David was in hospital for a quarter of a year with an infection in his spine. He explains what that was like and how MediCinema helped:
‘I suddenly woke up with this intense pain in my back and it just continued and continued. I simply couldn’t stand it, and so I hobbled up to Charing Cross Hospital. I was given pain killers, but then about six weeks later my legs started to feel very wobbly - like shivers, spasms, going up my legs. I simply could not walk. I was on my hands and knees, no power, in agony, pains thudding into my back all the time. I thought I was going to die.
‘I came to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and was here for 12 weeks including two weeks rehabilitation, trying to get this pain down and get me walking again. I couldn’t walk, I had to learn again; but the pain prevented me from really getting into it. I’d be screaming in pain.
‘When I found out there was a cinema in the hospital I was astonished! I thought it might be a room with a large screen. It’s a real cinema! It’s exactly the same as if you went to a multiplex cinema. It’s a real cinema with a brilliant screen, and comfortable seating, and more importantly - you have room for beds. And every time I go, I go in my bed. It’s just like going to the movies… well it is! It is going to the movies! You can be here and can forget about everything - I don’t feel any pain in my back when I’m in the cinema. I’m in my bed and I’m comfortable.
‘Trevor, in the bed next to me in the cinema, is in the same business. (Trevor is a screenwriter and David is an actor). We’ve never met before but we chatted as though we knew each other. We’ve met twice in the cinema now and we speak as if we’ve been away for a while and we just picked up again.
‘This is the first time I’ve been ill. I’m getting used to it now but in the beginning the whole thing was
alien to me. My spirits were very low when I came in here. After the first movie I saw here I came back to the ward and there were people chatting about their lives and things, the screens were drawn, and I just broke down and cried because I felt so sorry for myself, and one of the nurses said “Are you crying about the film David?” and I said no I was not, I was just being self-indulgent. I couldn’t help it. I just wept because I had seen the world I am out of temporarily, putting everything on hold.
‘Seeing a real cinema in a hospital, and screening the movies you screen, to me it was a revelation. A total joy. It gives you a more uplifting experience than anything you can imagine.’
Tara
“In hospital, I didn’t have connection with the outside world. I didn’t feel like I was living. And it’s things like going to the cinema that take you away from this place; the medications, the monotony of the day. At least with the cinema, you can go there, you know the nurses, you know they will help you, and you know you can just relax and stop thinking about what’s going on back in the ward. “I’m not being funny, but if I didn’t have the cinema, my cheese would have slipped off my cracker.”
Syeda
Syeda was a normal 20 year old when she caught an infection which would change her life forever.
'All of my organs collapsed, and I suffered from sepsis which resulted in me having multiple amputations, including losing both legs above the knee. For a long time, the doctors labelled me as ‘clinically dead’.
‘Before I fell ill I was your average 20 year old – going to university, going out with friends and enjoying life. When I fell ill, all of that was taken away from me. It was so hard being stuck in the same position, staring at the same four walls every day for months on end, just wishing for a change of scenery.
'MediCinema gave me a break from the monotony. It was what I would look forward to every Saturday and I remember counting down the hours till it was time to go again! Even if it was only for a couple of hours, it gave me the opportunity to feel like me again, to feel normal. It’s the only place in such a huge building of struggles and pain where you will hear so much laughter and see so many smiles. It felt like a community, where patients from so many different wards, each with their different journeys, would come together and forget what they were going through. I met so many other patients through the service, before the film starts the atmosphere is buzzing and everyone is talking. It’s a place to relax and share your own story, but also listen to others and be there for someone because you understand what they are going through.’
Marie
Marie is an outpatient at the Guy’s Cancer Centre with breast cancer and a regular MediCinema visitor. When we first spoke to her in 2016, she had been to MediCinema at least ten times, and she still comes today. She said:
‘I have enjoyed every visit to MediCinema very much. It is a brilliant concept which creates a fantastic chance for patients like me to 'escape from yourself' for a couple of hours. I've visited the hospital sometimes depressed, in pain, sad and upset and after the MediCinema 'treatment' I've left with a smile and feeling uplifted. For me, MediCinema is like a sanctuary where I can find some escape from my pain, fears, worry, medication and my condition. It's been a wonderful medicine that does more sometimes than taking pills.'
When I read these stories and quotes for the first time, I cried! The courage and honesty of these people was something I admired greatly, and it put into perspective my own problems and almost how little they are in comparison.
In a way, reading their experiences spurred me on even more to reach my fundraising target and more importantly to raise awareness of this fantastic charity. The concept is SO simple, but it can do so much!
Now then, down to the nitty gritty! This is what our money can do:
£12
Gives one patient a night at the movies.
£36
Gives one patient and their parents a family night out at the movies.
£72
Pays for one nurse to be present at the screening, so our patients are safe to enjoy the film.
Amazing, right? They need very little to make a difference.
This charity do something very special, something that I believe should be supported, so I ask you for your support in helping me reach my fundraising target. Tis' the season after all!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rebecca-phythian2
Lots of love,
Rebecca x
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