MediCinema receives £5 million donation for national expansion across new NHS regions
Newly launched in memory of the late Julia Rausing, the Julia Rausing Trust has donated £5 million to the MediCinema charity towards the build costs of at least seven new in-hospital MediCinemas over the next ten years.
This substantial grant from the Julia Rausing Trust will enable the charity to accelerate its strategic ambition to be present in every NHS region, building its state-of-the-art hospital-based cinemas and thereby benefitting many more thousands of patients every year.
MediCinema is already in conversation with a number of new NHS Trust partners and this capital grant opens up the possibility of creating new cinemas, whilst lessening the funding demands on the partner hospital’s charity. All money for the build of a MediCinema is funded in partnership and exclusively by MediCinema and the hospital charity through private grants and public donations.
This grant will help to accelerate new NHS partnerships and unlock potential sites that may not have been able to consider the construction of a MediCinema due to build costs.
MediCinema already operates successfully in five NHS Trusts and Health Boards across the UK, working in partnership with clinical and ward-based teams to bring the wellbeing benefits of cinema to hospital communities.
With a 24-year track record, their cinema-based programmes improve the emotional, psychological, and physical health of patients. This includes reducing feelings of isolation, stress, and anxiety while enhancing patient resilience and supporting recovery. The MediCinemas are free to attend and show the latest films.
Julia Rausing was a passionate, long-term supporter of MediCinema, understanding the challenges of being in hospital and therefore the many benefits enabled by stepping away from the ward, engaging with and being inspired by film in a safe and immersive space. We are so grateful for this incredibly generous grant made in honour of Julia’s memory. Such a gift will influence and transform the future of our charity, enabling us to accelerate the expansion of our network of purpose built in-hospital cinemas towards a national presence. MediCinema will be able to deliver the impact of its services to so many more thousands of NHS patients and their families across the country every year, making a positive and lasting impact on their hospital experience. This gift is a reminder of Julia’s generosity and dedication to Health and the Arts, complementing the recent and significant contribution made by The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust towards the build of a new MediCinema at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool which will open later this year.
Colin Lawrence, MediCinema CEO
About the Julia Rausing Trust
The Julia Rausing Trust has been established in memory of the late British philanthropist Julia Rausing, who died in 2024.
The Julia Rausing Trust will be donating £100million to charities and organisations in its first year making it one of the largest charitable funds in the UK.
Julia Rausing co-founded The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust in 2014. She was widely known for her unwavering commitment to philanthropy and her impactful contributions to a wide range of UK charitable causes. She was instrumental in building the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust into one of the largest philanthropic funds in the country, donating £400 million to causes across Health, Welfare, and the Arts, primarily within the UK.