'Generous' sum almost doubles money in the pot for £1.7m campaign to save Highlands touring cinema bus
Efforts are ongoing to raise money to build a brand new touring cinema bus for Highlands and Islands communities.
A touring cinema bus for the Highlands and Islands has received a significant funding boost to keep the service in the communities it supports.
Regional Screen Scotland (RSS) announced it has been awarded £350,000 from the SSEN Transmissions Regional Community Fund.
RSS currently runs The Screen Machine, an 80-seat, air-conditioned mobile digital cinema that tours more than 40 communities.
The organisation said the cash injection will be used in its campaign to raise the £1.7m needed to build a new Screen Machine cinema that will serve communities into the 2040s.
The service currently runs using a mobile cinema leased from France – the third vehicle to be deployed for the Screen Machine service - and which is funded by Screen Scotland, the Government’s TV and film agency.
The temporary "Cinémobile” was brought to Scotland in 2023 with the help of an initial £176,641 grant from Screen Scotland after the vehicle used for the previous 17 years began developing a series of faults blamed on corrosion caused by the weather conditions in the Highlands and Islands.
Funding to keep the lease going came after Dame Judi stepped in when pupils at Castlebay Community School on the Isle of Barra, one of the regular stop-offs for the service, wrote letters calling for support to keen The Screen Machine in service.
The leased cinema, which has a different design to the previous Screen Machine and is currently unable to visit the islands of Eigg, Raasay, Jura, Gigha, Cumbrae, Rousay and Shapinsay, will be in use until April 2026.
The fresh donation from SSEN almost doubles the amount RSS has in the pot for its campaign to build a new mobile cinema. It also means RSS has now reached half of its target.
Simon Drysdale, interim chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen for funding in the first round of awards made through the new SSEN Transmissions Regional Community Fund.
“Our award of £350,000 moves us closer to realising our ambition of building a new state-of-the-art Screen Machine mobile cinema for the Scottish Highlands & Islands and continuing to bring the magic of film to 44 communities.
“News of this generous funding from SSEN Transmission follows the announcement that we have been awarded core funding for our service through Creative Scotland’s Multi Year Funding. Together these announcements give us stability to continue to deliver the service and continue to fundraise for a total of £1.7m.
“Our campaign is building momentum and we hope this gives other potential funders the confidence that our goal is realistic, achievable and in sight. To all those who have donated so far, we thank you for coming on board and being part of our ambition to secure the magical Screen Machine service.”
RSS has appointed a professional fundraiser and project manager to help steer it through the next phase in reaching the £1.7m target and commencing the build of a tailor made vehicle.
The important funding boost comes off the back of last month's announcement of Creative Scotland's £1.23m boost which will see a yearly tranche of £410,000 over a three year period towards the operating costs of The Screen Machine.
The Screen Machine service has covered more than 250,000 miles since the first screenings were launched in 1998.
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