ALTON’S much-loved Palace Cinema has received a £20,000 Christmas present as part of a £30 million government handout to help keep Britain’s independent cinemas afloat.

More than 200 independent cinemas across England are being supported this Christmas by the government’s £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund.

Palace Cinema has received a £5,856 ‘Health and Safety Award’ to cover Covid-secure measures to protect staff and cinema-goers, and a £14,920 Business Sustainability Grant, totalling £20,776.

Raj Jeyasingam, who has managed the cinema in Normandy Street for more than 25 years, said despite few customers at the cinema in 2020, the money “is still useful to pay the heating and lighting the place up”.

Raj said: “Whether we have one person in or nobody in, we still have to heat the place up in case somebody turns up.

“It does encourage me to make sure the cinema stays open when things get back to normal – it is all about sustainability.”

The £20,000 government grant has also helped make the cinema Covid secure, but Raj says he still sees few customers watching movies because of the lack of new films and an unwillingness to wear a mask for 90 minutes.

“We are doing our best, but people haven’t got the confidence to sit in a place where they have to sit with a mask on and watch a film for 90 minutes,” he said.

The cash is being administered by the British Film Institute, on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as part of the biggest single investment in the UK’s cultural sector.

Palace Cinema (palacecinema.co.uk), in Normandy Street, reopened on Friday, December 11, and is operating a limited number of film showings, with reduced seating and no kiosk sales to remain Covid safe.

It has been a fixture of the town for more than 100 years, opening as The Alton Picture Theatre on December 18, 1912, with 440 seats.

Renamed around 1929, the Palace has hosted balls, bingo, disco and even wrestling – but continues to offer 171 seats across two screens.