Ukrainian families who have settled in Lichfield will be able to enjoy a free cinema morning in the city.
Mavka: The Forest Song will be shown at the Lichfield Garrick at 10am on 2nd December.
Dubbed in Ukrainian, the story follows a soul of the forest who faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest when she falls in love with a human.”
The family-friendly screening is being provided thanks to funding from the New Communities Resettlement fund.
For details on how to book free tickets visit the Lichfield Garrick website.
Very generous. Will you be offering a free cinema experience for poor families of the city of Lichfield & District?
Many of our own UK kids have never had a cinema experience. So..? When will that screening be???
Gail there, showing that gammon does not have a gender.
Seriously, this is being funded by a scheme specifically set up to support these kids who have been resettled through war. What are you doing, Gail, to help the UK kids who you seem to think are more deserving? Are you campaigning, writing to your MP or fundraising for them? Or are you just happy scraping the bottom of the empathy barrel on websites to demean efforts to support kids just because they aren’t ‘the same’ as you?
I’m astonished, but not shocked, sadly that the response to this isn’t that these kids, many of whom have been forced to flee their homeland, deserve some sunshine in their lives for an hour; instead it’s the usual whataboutery and Britain for the British tropes.
This city, this county and this country have a lot of problems. Kids who have endured trauma the likes of which most of us will thankfully never have to endure having a morning at the cinema are not one of them.
For many years the Garrick, in partnership with local charities and businesses, has enabled children and families who could not otherwise afford it to get to see their shows. The theatre, which is itself a charity, supports and also leads on a whole range of initiatives for the community – and especially for those in need. So thanks to all those people in and around Lichfield who enable the Garrick, Lichfield District City of Sanctuary and other charities to support our more vulnerable residents – both the long-standing and the newly-arrived. They, not the moaners, I believe, are genuinely representative of Lichfield people.
As someone who volunteered for Lichfield Garrick, and had a fantastic experience within the organisation (remember they are a charity), I am not sure that people may see some of the wonderful work they do for our community, and the partnerships they form to support many different causes?
For example, remember the warm spaces initiative that they offered to local people during last winter?
Well done Lichfield Garrick for screening this with subtitles, for the children and their families and for all the other charitable work you do, that often goes unnoticed in the community.
An excellent scheme, which is representative of the generosity of (most!) people of Lichfield. It is unimaginable what these families have endured, so I’m sure that the experience will be very much appreciated. Well done the New Communities Resettlement fund.
What a wonderful initiative! Well done to the Garrick and everyone involved for remembering that we have children here who have only recently made Lichfield their home and for whom being able to get together and enjoy a film in their mother tongue will be a really meaningful experience.
My own children have benefited enormously from their involvement at the Garrick, as have so many local youngsters, and it is great to see this welcome being extended to Ukrainian families. I hope they all have a fantastic time.
Nigel, as I understand it the Garrick has charitable status but is not “a charity”. Having charitable status enables access to funds that private businesses don’t. None of this undervalues the great work they do and are an asset to Lichfield – I just feel that there’s a misunderstanding of what “charity” means in a service provision context.
The Garrick theatre currently has a Christmas Ticket Appeal to raise money to help disadvantaged children visit the panto:
https://www.lichfieldgarrick.com/support-us/christmas-ticket-appeal/
“This year we are asking you, our generous local partners, to help young people who have experienced trauma, bereavement, illness, or who face financial barriers, to attend our pantomime.
Since 2017, we have raised money to give over 600 tickets to families and groups of young people via local charities, and with your help this year we can offer tickets to more people than ever.
You can join many others supporting our Christmas Ticket Appeal, and help us offer tickets to Lichfield Foodbank, Pathway Project, Spark Burntwood, Lichfield City of Sanctuary, and many other local charities. For many of these young people, it will be their first ever visit to the theatre.”