
A
national discount card scheme is available in almost every UK cinema
- that's over 700 cinemas.
The
Cinema Exhibitors’ Association (CEA) Card entitles
the holder to one free ticket for a person accompanying them to the
cinema.
To
apply for the card a person must meet at least one of the following
criteria.
Be
in receipt of Disability Living Allowance
or
Be
registered as a blind person
(Receipt
of Attendance Allowance or Disabled Person's Railcard is no longer
part of the criteria).
The
card is valid for one year from the issue date and
costs £5.50 (yes, a little bit more than
a fiver!)
Application
forms are available at all participating cinemas, or from the Card
Network website HERE.
Telephone
0845 123 1292 / 0845 123 1295
or Minicom/Text phone: 0845 123 1297
or email: mail@thecardnetwork.co.uk
for more details.
Or write
to:
CEACARD, PO Box 199, DEESIDE, CH5 9BW
FEB
09:
CEA ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO
DISABILITY CARD SCHEME
The
Cinema Exhibitors’ Association has announced changes to its
popular CEA Card disability scheme, whereby cardholders can get a
free ticket for another person to accompany them to participating
cinemas.
The
scheme, which is open to anyone claiming Disability Living Allowance
or who is registered blind, has been in existence since 2004. Set
up to bring greater consistency to a wide range of disability-related
schemes run by the sector, it now involves the majority of UK cinema
companies.
The
key changes to the scheme include:
•
the introduction of a standard set of terms and conditions setting
out the reasons for the card and the terms of its use;
and
•
the reduction in the lifetime of the card from three years to one
year.
The
new terms and conditions will apply to all cardholder and participating
cinemas from 1 March 2009. All successful new applications from that
date will also be issued with the new one year card.
Explaining
the reason behind the changes, CEA Chief Executive Phil Clapp said:
"There
is little doubt that the scheme is hugely popular with disabled customers
and has also made life much simpler for box office staff at participating
cinemas. For that reason alone, there is no question of cinemas lessening
their support.
However,
in the five years that the card has been in operation, that very popularity
has meant that the number of issues around its use has increased.
I am sure that everyone will understand our wish to set some basic
ground rules for those using the card, and for participating cinemas.
That way we can ensure that as many of those who are eligible as possible
can benefit and that we discourage the very small number of individuals
who might wish to misuse the scheme."
Turning
to the decision to reduce the period of validity of the card, he added:
"We
have only come to this decision after a great deal of thought. The
truth is that the current scheme would allow someone receiving Disability
Living Allowance for a matter of weeks to benefit from the card for
the full three years. Reducing the lifetime of the card to one year
addresses this issue.
We believe
that following these changes the scheme will remain a popular and
valuable one."
Further
details of the planned changes, and of the new terms and conditions,
can be found on both the CEA Card website: http://www.ceacard.co.uk
and
on the CEA website: http://www.cinemauk.org.uk