It’s been a tough 15 months for the movie enthusiasts and volunteers at the David Lean Cinema, which has been closed since the first covid-19 lockdown was announced in March 2020.

For the arthouse cinema in the Croydon Clocktower, with seats for just 60 customers, social distancing has presented a special set of challenges, and now the chairman of the Save the David Lean Cinema Campaign, Philip Howard, has announced the decision that they will delay their reopening until later in the year.

“With government permission for cinemas to open, we hope you will be keen to know our plans – and we’re keen to show you some of the many excellent films which are out now or soon,” Howard told the campaign’s thousand-plus supporters in their regular newsletter.

“Rather than reopening now, however, our goal is to reopen the David Lean Cinema in early autumn.

“This is for three main reasons. First, the Coroner’s Inquest into the Croydon Tram crash will be held in the Council Chamber between May 17 and August 20, which will significantly affect access to the Cinema – and, of course, we fully support whatever is necessary to deliver the Inquest.

“Second, we will need to reach agreement with the council about important issues such as public health requirements – we are engaging with them already on this, but it may take some time to agree everything.

“Third, it’s vital that we reopen in a way that feels safe to our valued volunteers and supporters, and we’d rather take the time needed to get this right.”

For more information on the Save David Lean Cinema Campaign, visit their website here, where you can also sign-up for their weekly newsletters.

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