Free open air summer screenings at Wembley Park begin next Thursday with 'Bend it Like Beckham'

 

Wembley Park's response to my query re Covid19 precautions at these events:

Public safety is Wembley Park’s highest priority and Wembley Park continues to follow the government guidance for COVID-19.

 

All events, as part of the Summer of Play programme, are set within a spacious, outdoor setting and some measures will remain in the public realm for the public to use whenever they want to.

SUMMER ON SCREEN 

 

29^th JULY – 5^th SEPTEMBER

 

North-West London’s Free Open-Air Cinema.

 

From Thursday 29 July, Wembley Park’s popularfree outdoor cinema, Summer on Screen, will return for five weeks in the Events Pad, across from the London Designer Outlet, on Wembley Park Boulevard. 

 

 

Visit Summer on Screen for an exceptional outdoor cinematic experience of hand-picked films under the summer night sky, with a choice of socially distant deckchairs or beanbags for a comfortable experience. 

 

 

Choose from 18 cinema gems including cult classics, magical musicals, and family favourites. Guests can see smash hits like the acclaimed play Hamilton, or for those in the sporting spirit, Bend it Like Beckham will show on the launch night of July 29, when the Olympics fever will be in full swing. 

 

 

An array of Bollywood classics will also be shown, including Manmarziyaan as well as educational and popular documentaries from National Geographic which will be screened in the day. 

 

 

Best of all, screenings are completely free, so be sure to arrive early for pre-show entertainment, food, drink, and to secure seats.

 

 

Film Schedule (with more dates to be confirmed in due course):

 

Thursday 29^th July: Bend It Like Beckham 

 

Friday 30^th July: Hamilton

 

Saturday 31^st July: Frozen

 

Sunday 1^st August: Manmarziyaan 

 

Sunday 8^th August: Lion King 

 

Thursday 12^th August: Dodgeball 

 

Saturday 14^th August: Ratatouille

 

Sunday 15^th August: India’s Indpendence Day, screening presented by UK Asian Film Festival – showing ‘Khape’.

 

Thursday 19^th August: Cool Runnings

 

Friday 20^th August: Bohemian Rhapsody 

 

Saturday 21^st August: Tom and Jerry (2021)

 

Sunday 22^nd August: Batti Gul Meter Chalu 

 

Thursday 26^th August: Eddie the Eagle 

 

Friday 27^th August: Yesterday

 

Saturday 28^th August: Paddington 

 

Sunday 29^th August: Happy Endings 

 

Thursday 2^nd September: Happy Gilmore

 

Friday 3^rd September: A Star is Born 

 

 

When:            

 

Thursday 29 July – Sunday 5 September.

 

Where:          

 

Events Pad, Wembley Park Boulevard.

 

Price:            

   

Free.

Preston Library 60s Film Night Saturday 30th September

Arsenic and Old Lace at Preston Library Community Hub tonight

Excellent Halloween entertainment tonight (Saturday) at Preston Library Community Hub Cinema. 7.15pm for 7.30 start. This week's film is Arsenic & Old Lace (1944), a murderous comedy starring Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane & Raymond Massey.

Anger as thriving Preston Community Library faces curtailment

Preston Library campaigners went to Cabinet last night to raise concerns over the School Expansion report which will mean the Preston Library Community Hub restricting its activities to weekends from September.  The Council has decided that the former library building is needed for primary classes from Wembley High School as building work there is behind schedule.

Philip Bromberg from the campaign told the Cabinet that he was not convinced that there was no alternative buildings available (the report lists the former Anansi Nursery as available from July 2016 until July 2018 but states 'this building is no longer required').

He told the Cabinet about all the activities that are available at the Hub, including a cinema, with visitor numbers doubling. He said that the Community library was doing things that the Council had pulled out of and 'doing them very well'.  He told the Cabinet that if the Council could not succeed in cooperating with a large and successful group such as the Community Library and Hub, he could not see its strategy succeeding elsewhere.

After an optimistic letter from Cllr Mashari about joint design of the new facility in April little had happened with the promised collaborative approach and now the use by Wembley High was being discussed just 3-4 days before their licence ended, with no direct word to the Library from the Council.

A local film maker told the council about the sucecss of the cinema which had been funded with a £4000 grant from the council and had become a vital part of the local community with all showings at capacity. The grant would be a waste of money if the Library did not  continue.  He invited councillors and the governors of Wembley High School to visit the Community Hub. Campaigners were keen to establish as positive a relationship with Wembley High as they'd had with Preston Park Primary but this had not happened yet.

Michael Pavey agreed to amend the term 'pop up' used in the report about the library when a speaker said that it was a fully fledged community library with 663 visits in June.

Cllr Margaret McLennan, responding to the delegation, said the Council had always made it clear that the priority needs of the borough were school places and housing. These came ahead of the policy to bring buildings back to life. She substituted a new paragraph for one in the report which would now say that there was no prospect of disposal of the Preston library building until 2017-18 and options would be looked at for commercial or community disposal in August 2017 at the earliest.

To protests from campaigners Cllr Mashari said that she did not appreciate Philip Bromberg's claim that the council had reneged on a deal and had not responded to campaigners. She said that they had made it 'extremely clear' before the election that school places were a priority and the building had never been promised to one particular group. She concluded that the library supported 'fantastic community activities - but don't misquote us'.

Philip Bromberg asked for a right of reply to what he saw as a personal attack but Cllr Pavey refused.

Cllr Ruth Moher, lead member for Children and Families, said that places were needed so that schools had a 5% vacancy rate as required by the government. At present the soare capacity in Brent schools was only 2.3%. She was not expecting things to get any better in the near future but would eventually like to see buildings used as the community desires.

This is a relatively new requirement (I am not sure of its statutory basis) which is claimed to enhance parents' choice but also has the knock-on effect of increased pupil mobility, particularly in less popular schools, making it harder for them to improve.