Contact a Family Movie Event - Meview

Free Family Film and Music Workshop
17th October 2009
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff


Having a large family can often be a curse as much as it is a blessing, especially when it comes to entertaining the little angels.

As a weekend Dad I have to find ways to entertain my four boys on a regular basis. Unfortunately, finding places that make this possible, and affordable, are few and far between.

Due to my five-year-old having Cerebral Palsy I was recently invited to an event, organised by Contact a Family (www.cafamily.org.uk), a cinema outing for families with disabled children.

If you have a disabled child, you'll know that cinemas can often be embarrassing places to go as sympathy is often thin on the ground when your child talks throughout the movie, having no conception of the annoyance caused to the rest of the audience.

This outing however promised a stress-free environment where you could see a movie, Ice Age 3 in this case, and not feel self-conscious about your child's needs or behaviour as others families attending would have similar experiences.

Quite often the venue can contribute to the stress as much as your fellow movie-goers with doors determined to snap shut on you or disabled loos that would fail any health inspection (I'm not naming names!), thankfully the Chapter Arts Centre had more than adequate facilities and helpful staff on hand to answer any questions. Although the cinema was up some stairs they had a chairlift available which actually made my other boys jealous as the five-year-old operated the lift himself, with much excitement.

Without commenting on the movie itself the viewing experience was as advertised. I found that although I was still trying to ask my boy to be quiet I didn't feel like I was going to suffer the wrath of some irate moviegoer who felt his experience of such a masterpiece was being infringed upon.

As an added bonus there was a music workshop held afterwards where the kids all got to try out various percussion instruments. The noise increasing in proportion to the enjoyment had in making it!

With the whole experience subsidised by Contact a Family, what was an enjoyable few hours was not even spoiled by the cost.

The event seemed over before it had really gotten going which is a credit to those involved and if you're interested in finding out about more events for families with disabilities held by either Contact a Family or Chapter Arts Centre follow the links below.

Contact a Family - Latest events

Chapter Arts Centre - Latest Events



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