The campaign to raise £1.49 million to buy a new Screen Machine mobile cinema has reached a successful conclusion.
Beginning in September 2023 after the old cinema reached the end of its lifespan and was retired, the campaign started when Screen Scotland stepped in to provide funding to enable Regional Screen Scotland to lease a temporary replacement cinema. This bought time for the RSS team to campaign and fundraise. Many customers and supporters took up the call to write to their MPs and MSPs.
Funding has been provided by: donations from the public of over £110,000, including a major gift from Sir Ewan and Lady Brown; Scottish Government with £500,000; SSEN Transmissions Community Fund with £350,000; Highlands and Islands Enterprise with £350,000.
The team at Regional Screen Scotland was able to lower its initial target from £1.7 million to £1.49 million thanks to good negotiations with suppliers, efficiencies in running the project and a favourable foreign exchange rate – the new Screen Machine is being built in France by Europe’s leading builder of mobile cinemas. Delivery is expected in June 2026 and the service to resume the following month.
Simon Drysdale, interim chief executive officer of Regional Screen Scotland, said: “The colossal joint effort from our supporters to raise £1.49m has been humbling. We sincerely thank everyone who got involved, whether you wrote to your MSP, dropped some change into our collection bucket or held a fundraising event. Our next challenges are to ensure successful completion of the build and to set up a resilience fund for upgrades, maintenance and repairs to the new cinema.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes added: “The Screen Machine service has been an iconic part of rural and island life in Scotland for more than 26 years and I’m delighted that the campaign to save it has been successful. The Scottish Government is proud to have contributed £500,000 towards the purchase of a new mobile cinema that will continue this service along our ferry network and rural roads for many years to come.”