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Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
- By woodstock
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Tue 8 Dec 2009 19:37
I have been in contact with Carrie from the Cinema Exhibitors Association who sell cards for carers to show at cinemas for concessionary seats when accompanying a disabled person. These used to cost £5 and last for 3 years yet recently they upped the cost to £5.50 and reduced the life to 1 year.
The response I got as to why they had done this was increased costs and people with short term disabilities using them beyond their need. I queried why if someone has DLA at middle rate for care for 3 years or more they couldnt issue them for longer? The response i got was as follows:
"To be absolutely clear, all cinemas are - as a result of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) - under a duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' for customers with a disability. Providing a free seat to a 'carer' is one way in which a cinema can help meet its duties under the DDA. This is true whether or not the disabled person carries a CEA Card. We recognize that for many with a disability explaining the impact that has on their ability to enjoy a cinema visit in comfort can be at best an inconvenience and in many circumstances quite stressful and even embarrassing. The CEA Card was introduced to provide a straightforward way by which a person with a disability might be able to provide immediate evidence of this to box office staff at participating cinemas and ensure that they were able to be accompanied by someone who could help them during their cinema visit. .........even if you decide not to apply for the Card on this basis, you remain entitled to expect a cinema to make 'reasonable adjustments' when your husband and/or son attend. This could if you think it necessary include a free seat for you. If you are not happy with paying the £5.50 for a CEA Card and are regular attendees at a particular local cinema, I would suggest that you might contact the manager there to make them aware of your needs and ensure the minimum of disruption. The CEA is happy to help in this regard."
Whenever I have asked at a theatre I have been given a concessionary seat yet our local cinema wont unless you have the CEA card. I wonder how entitled after this they are in refusing???
Replies
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By jennifer
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Tue 8 Dec 2009 21:20Thanks for going into this.x
- By woodstock
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Wed 9 Dec 2009 23:47Carrie came back to me this morning and offered to contact our local cinema on our behalf!!! How lovely to find someone who genuinely cares for once. Will be interesting to hear what response she gets..........................
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By coffee
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Thu 10 Dec 2009 12:17Hi woodstock do hope you are well?
what about those carers who would love a break and go and watch a film or theatre but can't cause the person they care for would or could not go to the cinema? this should be available to all carers whether the person they care for is with them or not.
But thanks woodstock coffeex
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By kerry.
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Thu 10 Dec 2009 14:13Lol Fen I knew this would get up your nose and you would investigate!
Terrific though, thanks, i did wonder myself why they'd changed things.And I agree Coffee, for years we could not even contemplate taking the boys- George would just lose the plot entirely being in a dark noisy room and we couldnt keep Sid in his seat (we still struggle with that one)
Even now george refuses to go to the pantomime- last yr we tried again and Gary ended up sat in car with him for nearly 2 hours after he legged it out and ran in front of a car in the car park.
Sid loved it though and shouted his head off at Boycey from Fools and Horses who played the baddie- the only thing was he was shouting out things like Im gonna kick yer 'ead in. And we were sat in front row too so no way boycey didnt hear him. I laughed my ar*e off.
This year Sid wants to go again and George wont so Dad will take him to the cinema instead.
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By kerry.
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Thu 10 Dec 2009 14:14BTW Fen have you ever thougt of doing some kind of research job cos you'd be ace at it. Something you could do from home I mean?
My mate Bob is thinking of doing somethng along the lines of family trees cos he's really good at tracing people- he did mine and went right back to 1801 and his own he got to the 17th C.
- By woodstock
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Sun 20 Dec 2009 22:52Carrie at CEA has been off sick but emailed me to say she is back but still working on it!!! Watch this space!
I did get into family history few years back Kerry - found out my great great grandparents on my Mums side were from Spalding & Boston!! Makes you wonder what drew me to live here? Neil's Dad lived here as a boy but he wasnt so keen - I just fell in love with the Fens! There is more and more info available on line and IF I ever get on top of everything else I want to carry on with it. I even got contact from Neil's Mum's side from a lady who lived in the Yukon which was really interesting to find out about her life there. Ironically I found that there were ancestors on her side who lived In Whitefield nr Manchester where I lived as a child!
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By kerry.
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Mon 21 Dec 2009 10:47Yes it's funny Fen, like you say; my dads family from way back were from the Norfolk area- my parents retired to Norfolk! Although my dad and his ancestors moved to the east end (lime house/Stepney etc) many many years ago.
Also the funniest thing- my mate who did the research for me, Bob, well I know him from when I lived in Kent. He still lives there- turns out his ancestors lived about 2 doors down from mine! How weird is that then! I only met him through my mate- he was her caretaker in the flats and a good friend of hers. We were meant to meet at some point obviously- and he's such a lovely fella, retired now.
I also found out that every single one of my direct ancestors (on the male side) were called William, including my dad (his middle name) and strangely I called my George, George Gary William!
- By Blackdog
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Tue 22 Dec 2009 14:20Just caught up on the original posting about the C E A Card, we have one and the cinemas in Norwich are more than accommodating, if you complain about the state of toilets or whatever they are quick to offer complimentary vouchers.
Blackdog from Norfolk
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By kerry.
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Tue 22 Dec 2009 18:49Ello Blackdog- whereabouts in Norfolk are you? I lived in Lowestoft for about a year and my daughter then only 5 went to school in Hopton where my mother lives. My sister in Law in at Gorleston and I have friends at Beccles.
- By woodstock
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Re: Free Cinema seats for carers and CEA card
Mon 18 Jan 2010 19:09Well, The CEA have refused to change their terms as far as reextending the life of the card but have contacted our local cinema who have agreed to honour it for 5 years which is OK for us but only when we visit that cinema and not much help for others. I have had the following email from their C.E. today which repeatedly states you don't need it so I shall print it off and offer it up at the cinema next time and see what they say?
As Chief Executive of the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association (CEA), I am replying to you following your recent email exchanges with the Card Network regarding the renewal conditions under which the CEA Card is now issued.Initially it might be helpful if I restate the role of the CEA Card. It is a non-mandatory scheme which was introduced in response to requests from CEA members and a number of disability organisations to find an alternative and voluntary way of demonstrating the need for a reasonable adjustment when visiting the cinema. It is in no way intended or designed to be the sole way of cinemas meeting their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 when individual’s may require the assistance of another to visit a cinema. These obligations stand irrespective of whether a disabled person who requires such assistance is a card holder or not. Where a disabled person requires this level of assistance and is not a Card holder, the CEA policy is that the escort should be allowed free admittance. The Card is designed to help simplify some of the issues that arise when disabled cinema goers might need a reasonable adjustment as specified under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. To this end it has been successful.
During the course of last year it was decided that the terms and conditions under which the Card was issued needed to be reviewed and updated. This was done under the auspices of the CEA’s Disability Working Group which consists of representatives from the major circuits, several national disability specific charities, e.g., RNID and RNIB and our specialist disability advisers, Freeney Williams Ltd. As a result of these discussions the terms and conditions to which you refer were launched.
I note your views regarding these terms and conditions. However, the CEA have the right to determine the terms and conditions of such a Card as it is not an obligation for a disabled person to hold one to seek the provision of a free seat for a escort when attending the cinema. The Card is simply one way of demonstrating such a need for a reasonable adjustment.
The decision to limit the Card to one year for all applicants was only taken after a great deal of discussion within the Working Group and in recognition that - as we have said above - ownership of the Card is not a prerequisite for a disabled person requiring assistance to visit a cinema. Consequently, the CEA is not willing to change the current terms and conditions which apply to the scheme at this stage. We will be reviewing them in due course and I will make sure your views are passed on to the Working Group when it does so.
I appreciate you may not agree with our position on these terms and conditions and I would like to reiterate the offer made in an earlier mail in relation to the West End cinema in Boston. It is, of course, your prerogative to decide not to participate in the Card scheme under its present terms and conditions and this does not preclude you from visiting any cinema and seeking a ’free’ seat for you as an escort.
Best wishes,
Phil Clapp.
Phil Clapp | Chief Executive
Cinema Exhibitors' Association
22 Golden Square | London | W1F 9JW
T +44 (0)20 7734 9551 | M +44(0) 7917806887 | F +44 (0)20 7734 6147
E phil.clapp@cinemauk.org.uk | W www.cinemauk.org.uk
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