A 'CEA' CARD FOR THE SELECT FEW MILLION IN SOCIETY - ME INCLUDED! (Cinema Exhibitors' Association Card)

Member Name: totalserenity

Product:	Cinema Exhibitors' Association Card
Date:	24/07/09 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: SIMPLY A WONDERFUL CONCEPT IN THE FORM OF A CARD TO HELP THE LESS FORTUNATE...

Disadvantages: YOU HAVE TO BE BLIND OR DISABLED TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS - I FOR ONE WOULD RATHER BE HEALTHY.

I am disabled. I have Osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine and in both hips.

On top of this I have had three prolapsed discs, and now a forth re-prolapse too. Plus permanent damage to the sciatic nerve in my left leg made worse by the fact that this leg is half an inch shorter than my right.

I have had two serious back spinal surgeries, and now there is talk of a third.

So, how is all this relevant to a national 'Cinema Exhibitors' Association Card' one might ask?

Well actually it is 100% relevant, as I have been the unfortunate holder of a Blue badge (used to be orange back in the day), for nigh on sixteen years now, in addition to receiving the highest rate of the Motability component of the Disability Living Allowance (D.L.A).

Which leads me nicely onto how I found about this fantastic little money saving plastic credit-type looking card originally in my local Sheffield Cineworld, almost four years ago now.

Finding out about the card's existence...
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Being a nosey bunny one day I asked out of casual curiosity what the 'Concessionary' meant next to the 'OAP' price listing at this cinema, only to be told (almost accompanied by a bolt of lightning at this epiphany I might add!) it was a card that disabled people could apply for to get their 'carer' in for free.

Wow, yes please!

The caring concept...
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The concept is quite simple to be honest.

It was explained to me by a very helpful young assistant that to qualify for a 'CEA' card, as they are known, a person has to be in receipt of D.L.A and to send a photograph signed on the back to the CEA Head Office on an official form.

The helpful young assistant then whipped out an innocuous looking simple white form and that was that. Amazing!

The gist of the form...
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There are two ways to get this form generally - either from a local participating cinema, or online where you can print it out - and then post it to the address provided.

The important thing to note is that the form must be filled in by the disabled person and not the accompanying carer - although it is the person accompanying you that actually get in for free.

Yes that's right 'Free'!

Two for one, a fantastic bargain!

According to the www.ceacard.co.uk website:

To apply for the card, you will need to meet one or more of the following criteria:

a) Be in receipt of the disability living allowance or attendance allowance.
b) Be a registered blind person.
The card is valid for 1 year from the date of issue.
Application forms are available from cinemas across the UK supporting this card.

You are then asked to send your signed passport sized photo along with a £5.50 processing fee - but remember that one off fee then allows anyone who is your carer to gain entrance for nothing - fabulous!

Proof of your disability needs to be sent, either the original Government letter (send a SAE for return post), or a photocopy which will be responsibily destroyed according to the website's blurb...

Extra Info...
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There is plenty of advice on the CEA website itself and the registering process is very straightforward.

There is a list of Terms and Conditions if you are the type to read such literature, plus there is a list of Frequently asked Questions, and even a local rate telephone number for any more pressing enquiries.

Links are offered to the RNIB websites and a sister CEA website called www.cinemauk.co.uk, which is very helpful for things like news in general re audience attendance figures, key issues facing cinema exhibition such as illegal filming piracy, and the latest CEA announcements.

'Disability and Access' also figures on this site if you need to check wheelchair access, lifts, etc.

Both websites are simplistic and very easy to navigate...even I can cope.

Also, if you choose to download your application form rather than pick one up in person, they are available in both 'Standard' and 'Large' print for the visually impaired.

Another point worthy of a mention is that a list of participating cinemas can be accessed off the CEA site - very handy if you are out of your usual location.
Alternatively, just ring the prospective cinema direct; they will be able to tell you if theirs is included within the scheme.

I cannot find any info on a minimum age for a card holder to apply, so it may be worth ringing the local rate number I've set out later in the review to find out if such an age is applicable for this scheme.

An anomaly...
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The one thing I don't understand regarding the online form is that is states the holder's card is valid from one year from date if issue. However, I get mine re-issued once every three years.

Now this is not a complaint I hastily add, £5.50 for a year is fantastic, but when I renewed my card last year I was awarded it for another three years until Oct 2011.

I don't understand why this is - but I am hardly going to ring and argue it out, am I?!

When it was time to renew, I rang the Head Office about a month in advance (you do not get reminders - important to note), and was advised to get my re-application in the post pronto, which of course I duly did.
My card arrived after about three weeks, in enough time before my last one ran out.

Great service and a helpful phone operator too, excellent service has been provided throughout all my dealings with the CEA head honchos...

The card itself...
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As I briefly mentioned earlier this is a plastic credit card-style ID. Your name is printed on the front as is your picture on the left hand side (you can smile for this type of identification!), and the 'Valid Until' date also alongside a very long barcode with a 3D effect CEA logo at the bottom right hand side of the wallet/purse sized card.

Easy to carry around and very handy to have on you most of the time, just in case you decide on an impromptu visit to the pictures!

On the back of the green-fronted card are several instructions to the cinema staff re valid until the expiry date, and that the accompanying person is the free entrance into the cinema.

CEA stipulate the card must be destroyed on expiry - for obvious reasons one would think - as with all ID cards.

Participating cinemas...
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On the CEA website there is an option to key in your postcode and it will automatically come up with a list of qualifying cinemas countrywide, this has proven to be a very handy choice on occasion.

This list includes some of the big boys such as Vue, Odeon, Apollo, Empire, Merlin and Cineworld, of course!

Contact details...
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For any difficulties incurred you can contact the card's admin section directly on:

The Card Network
Network House
St Ives Way
Sandycroft
CH5 2QS

Tel: 0845 123 1292
Fax: 0845 123 1296
Minicom / Text phone: 0845 123 1297

Alternatively, most issues you may encounter can be dealt with online. I have had no problems at all, it is very easy to follow the form and both of the CEA sites.

My opinion of this scheme...
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There aren't many good points to suffering with chronic or acute long term ill health as I'm sure most compassionate human beings will admit; but for someone like me living on limited means this card has been a godsend.
It has enabled me to take my daughter to so many more film outings than I could ever have hoped to pay for at full price, and must have saved me a small fortune over the several years I have owned one now.

I wouldn't be without mine, therefore I hope this review is helpful to anyone in a similar health status situation that, like me, had no idea there was a fantastic BOGOF card out there like this to enable them to increase their social life without the extra burden of cost.

Going to the pictures is one of the few social niceties I can do with my loved ones now due to decreased mobility and increased pain levels, so this wonderful caring card's concept is one of the very few positive financial aids I have found out there for people like me who are either disabled/blind.

As regards 3D films found in selected cinemas, whereas the average filmgoers if in pairs has to pay for each set of glasses, you and your companion only pay once which is fabulous!
The Cineworld prices have just gone up again so each 3D film showing cost £2.20 per person irrespective of age if memory serves; I pay that only once.

Portable, yet valuable, many times beyond its weight in gold I have advised anyone with a disability around me, including my own mum, to acquire this little treasure ASAP. I have never had any problems in any of the cinemas I have attended as regards for being asked for extra proof of ID, etc.
I do look very healthy in appearance and this can cause me problems in mainstream life.

Nevertheless, whichever cinema I have attended I have been treated with nothing less than politeness and professionalism, I am happy to report.

Oh, and don't forget the milking value of errant teenage child 'caring' for her rickety mum as we enter the building, as she loves the fact that 'she' gets in for free and not little ol' me - Priceless!

*Tut*!


A full and well deserved 5 star-studded twinkles in the cinematic sky for today's review - because CEA is worth it!


© Written exclusively for Dooyoo.

Summary: A FANTASTIC IDEA THAT SHOULD BE MUCH MORE KNOWN ABOUT THAN IT CURRENTLY IS!