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