Welland cinema club to be launched in St James Church

A cinema club is being launched at St James Church following the installation of a projector screen and 800-watt speakers.

The equipment has been paid for by Little Malvern and Welland Parish Council and the creation of the cinema is the culmination of 18 months of work to get the necessary permissions in place.

Lashana Lynch and Alisha Weir in Matilda the Musical (Image: Sony Pictures)

Viv Nelson, chair of Little Malvern and Welland Parish Council, said: “This is an exciting new resource for the village.

“Having watched a few film clips on the new equipment with surround sound, the effect is incredible. I’m sure that this will become yet another asset for the village.”

Cllr Nelson said the large screen rolls away and the projector is up on the church ceiling, preserving the building’s aesthetics as much as possible.

“We’ve put it in the church because the ceiling in the village hall is too low,” she said. “The church has the ideal height and acoustics.

“It was ideal because the church is looking to reach out and be multi-functional. It has the cafe on a Friday and hosts youth events.”

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Matilda the Musical, starring Emma Thompson and Lashana Lynch, will be the first film shown by the Wellland Community Cinema Club.

The club will get underway in earnest on Friday, March 3 with showings at 5.15pm and 7.45pm. Tickets are priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for children.

“If we get 50 people along, I’d be very happy,” said Cllr Nelson. “We’ll have coloured lights on as we do for gigs, we’ll be selling ice creams and there will be a bow-tied concierge on the door - we’re going all-out to make this special.”

Tickets are available from the village store or from the Ticket Source website.

The cinema club already has a series of films it wants to show. After Matilda the Musical, next up for Welland will be one of the biggest films of 2022 - Top Gun: Maverick.