Starting an education programme

Decide who you want to target first – adults, school children, kids’ clubs, etc. Don’t try to cater for everyone at once: you may be unable to sustain lots of simultaneous activity and don’t want to disappoint people.

Try to develop contacts that will be honest about planned activities – eg teachers’ groups, regular customers, youth workers – and ensure that you are responding to gaps in local provision.

Make sure anyone working with young people has had a police check – it’s the law. Also check, if setting up out-of-school activities, the necessary ratio of adults to children.

Use suitable advertising methods – if it’s not an event aimed at the general public, be wary of putting it in your brochure and, if you do, make it very clear this is the case (be prepared – you may still have people trying to attend).

Above all, try to ensure that the activities you offer are enjoyable. In terms of developing future audiences for both independent film and independent cinemas, happy education campers are a great advert for your venue and will ensure your education programme goes from strength to strength.