Thinking of each other – some changes at The Ultimate Picture Palace. As you probably know, the Government have confirmed that England will move to the final stage of easing lockdown restrictions on Mon 19 July. We wanted to let you know what this means for The UPP and the changes we’re making.

We have approached these decisions with the greatest of care, prioritising the access and inclusion of our staff, our volunteers, and our audiences. We know people and businesses are going to be moving at different speeds as we all approach this new period of adjustment and we’ll continue listening to your feedback and updating you regularly.

The following are the decisions we have made as a result of the announcement:

Face coverings
There will be no change here – we will continue to require everyone to wear a face-covering whilst in the cinema and moving around the building so that everyone can feel safe and protected whilst at The UPP. As before, we ask everyone to be mindful that some people are unable to wear a face covering, and the reasons for that might not be immediately apparent.

Cinema capacity
From Friday 13th August (the start date of our next programme) we will increase the capacity in our cinemas from 25% to 50%. This means our booking system will continue to automatically ensure there is a minimum of one seat between you and other customers on your row – the difference is that all rows in each cinema will be partly occupied.

Safety measures
We will continue with the safety measures we have in place, including: increased and enhanced cleaning regime; provision of hand sanitiser throughout the cinema; maintaining our airflow management plans to ensure adequate ventilation throughout; staff and volunteers wearing face coverings and following social distancing guidelines; perspex screens at the box office and bar; encouraging contactless payments where possible.

We trust that our visitors will make considered decisions in the interest of themselves and everyone around them and make use of the NHS Test and Trace check-in app, although it will no longer be required to enter the cinema.

How are you feeling?
Let us know how you feel. Do you want to share any thoughts with us? Email us at [email protected] and we will get back to you.

Thank you again for all of your support during this time – our staff, volunteers and audiences have all been amazing.

Micaela and The UPP team