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Peter Moth visits one of the annual Community Project Award Winners
I was glad things had changed.
I had read the history of Erskine United Reformed Church in which a visitor had described Belford as: ‘Nothing like its name in strength or beauty, being the most miserable, beggarly, sodden town, or town of sods, that was ever made in an afternoon of loam and sticks’: But that was in 1776.
Today it is a pleasant little border town 50 miles north of Newcastle and the last stop on the A1 before Berwick and Scotland. It is also the home of the Belford Cinema.
Finding it in a blinding snowstorm on a Friday night is not easy. Turn right up Nursery Lane, just past the bit where the local lads throw the snowballs at your car as you come round the bend into the town off the A1 by-pass. It also turns out to be the hall of Erskine United Reformed Church and an outpost of the Rural Churches Project of the Northern Synod. The church notice board tells you that there will be morning service at 10.30 and a screening of Laura’s Star at 6.30 tonight.
Laura’s Star is a charming piece of animation which never quite hit the big time but is popular with the kids. When I arrive at the hall it looks as if the kids are already there, but in fact I am too early. The hall is full of small girls in leotards having their dancing class; today they are being a circus, next week it will be penguins and tigers. If I had arrived on a different night it could have been rather bigger girls learning Exotic Dancing or possibly, and more sedately, embroidery. Mrs Falla, the church secretary, points to the plan on the church hall wall which shows that the hall is booked solid and since its refurbishment, has been working overtime. For the past six months or more they have been running films on a monthly basis – admission free, tuck shop provided and donations welcomed. Once a month on Tuesday afternoons there is the Silver Screen – an afternoon for senior film buffs (tea and cakes for two).
You won’t find it advertised widely: it operates under a PVSL licence, which allows them to show recent movies released on DVD provided they make no admission charge and do no general advertising.
However, if you ask the locals, they know all about it, as well as the other community activities which centre on the church hall. The bill for getting the hall into shape came to £30,000 and the creation of the Belford Cinema was the project which made it possible. It is the brain-child of the Herbert family (far right). David is the URC minister in Belford and chief projectionist, Diana is his wife and business planner and fund-raiser for the project, and Jamie, their teenage son, is technical wizard and trouble-shooter. The idea came from similar projects they had come across in other areas where there was no cinema and the village or church hall the only community facility – usually in dire need of a face-lift.
Chocolat for lent
The Herberts have been in Belford over two years now, and the cinema has been one of the tools for growing the church and serving the village. It cost £36,000 to get the project going – about £6,000 for the equipment and another £30,000 to get the hall fit for purpose. When they arrived, the Belford blizzards were kept at bay by plastic sheeting over the hall windows. Now there is a decent heating system, double glazing, comfortable seating and new toilets, so things really have changed. Diana put together the business plan and worked her way through a succession of trusts and grant-making bodies to raise the capital. It came via a mix of Lottery – £5,000 from the Awards for All fund, the Countryside Agency – £8,000, and £23,000 through Surestart. Northern Film and Media, an arm of the Arts council in the North East were also very supportive in terms of programming and technical advice, but they were chary of being seen in any way directly to support church activities, so the pitch had to be in terms of the benefit the project brought to a relatively isolated rural community. ‘Apart from what the church itself raised, all the money came from secular sources’ says Diana, ‘None of the religious trusts seemed to be interested’. The secular money was interested in the community benefit, but using films and moving images and simple video technology has also helped the church. Video and PowerPoint can be used in worship and there is a group of teenagers, some of whom would not be seen dead inside a church, but who are happy to meet at the manse to watch and talk about films. There are discussions after some of the film evenings, gently exploring the theology behind some of the themes. The programming reflects its Christian roots:Chocolat during Lent (discussion afterwards for those who have given it up and real chocolate for those who haven’t). The Last Temptation of Christ on Good Friday – there’s a challenge for any church.
The equipment itself is not unduly daunting. It’s the kind of stuff you might find in some of the well-heeled households further down the road in Newcastle – a good DVD player, a mixing desk for sound, and a small projector of the kind you can run with a laptop or a DVD player, plus a good quality retractable screen. There is also a mobile unit which operates from Seahouses on the coast and along with Belford it is now one of the outposts of the Berwick Film Festival. David Herbert usually looks after the technicalities of the projection when there is a show, but it is Jamie who steps in when they hit a technical problem. It is just like home in that respect. Got a problem with the video? Ask the kids. The project needs revenue as well as capital investment. The running-costs are not high, but rental has to be paid for on the DVDs, the hall has to be heated, and should a bulb go in the projector, it’s £400 to replace it. Diana is working on a proper business plan to pitch for next year’s running costs. At the moment, no-one is quite sure what the cost of heating and lighting really comes to, and they need to allow for depreciation and inflation. The budget certainly comes to at least £3,500 a year, but it needs refining in the light of the experience of the first six months of the project.
the mission
What was the church’s reaction when the proposal to start the scheme was put to them? ‘Terrific’ says David, ‘They were very supportive when they saw the proposal and wanted to give it a go. Not only that, we set a target of £500 to be raised from the congregation as their contribution and they made it £700.’ Who picks the films? ‘We do most of the time’ says Diana, ‘We use Screenselect, although there are other catalogues, including some specifically Christian ones, but they tend to be a bit limited. You can also download from some catalogues via the internet and it’s often a good way of previewing films you haven’t seen’. A couple of months ago, the Silver Screen afternoon veterans were asked for their choice. To everyone’s surprise they chose The Mission. It went down well, and provoked a lively discussion. ‘We try not to make the programme too heavy’ says Diana. ‘Hotel Rwanda left people very moved, but we can’t have weepies all the time’. It wasn’t quite clear whether the choice of Leon the Pig Farmer in the current season, was theological or agricultural, but they enjoyed it.
The audience varies – on this particular Friday night the blizzard had kept some regulars away, but they average about 20 for the Silver Screen afternoons and a similar number for the evening shows. I asked one of the regulars, Gwen Sprott (far left), what she thought about the scheme. ‘Love it’ she said. ‘I come to all of the shows. I had been married for 63 years until my husband died a couple of years ago, and I love coming to these shows now. It stops you feeling lonely.’ I left her watching, and enjoying, Laura’s Star along with an assortment of kids and parents. Driving back through the blizzard, hailstones and accompanying electrical storm I reflected on what a bit of determination and enthusiasm can do, and how the resources are there if you know where to look and how to pitch for them. Belford may yet become the Hollywood of Northumberland; the Herberts tell me that the next step is going to be making their own movies. Watch this space.
Peter Moth is a retired minister living in northern synod
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