The Friends of the Regal are constituted as a sub committee of the Jesmond Neighbourhood Centre Incorporated. We have over 1250 financial members.

We meet at the Jesmond Neighbourhood Centre, 44 Mordue Parade, Jesmond, (adjacent to the rear of the shopping centre car park) at 6.00 pm on the third Thursday of each month.

Our aim is to reopen the former Regal cinema at Birmingham Gardens as a community run, not-for-profit Cultural Cinema Centre. The centre will continue the tradition established by the former operator, Bruce Avard, of showing films with strong cultural and artistic relevance and maintaining an affordable and welcoming social venue. We also plan to expand into modern audiovisual entertainment and social networking applications and training facilities for the digital and visual arts.

Bruce Avard's Regal was famous for the diversity as well as the quality of its offerings and was made freely available for organisational fund raising purposes.

The patrons had a sense of personal involvement and it provided an essential element of social cohesion for the area that is now lacking.

As part of the Jesmond Neighbourhood Centre Inc. we have a particular interest in reflecting the culturally diverse nature of the locality as well as providing for the needs of film-lovers from the wider region.

Newcastle City Council owns the site and building.

Progress

Incorporation within the Jesmond Neighbourhood Centre Inc.

Financial membership over 1,250

Significant sums raised by member activities.

Granting of tax-deductible donation status by the Australian Taxation Office

Pro-bono relationships established with legal, surveying, architectural, and business development professionals.

Relationships initiated with other cultural and community-service bodies and agencies.

Membership of the Newcastle City Council Regal Redevelopment Sunset Committee to develop a strategy for the provision of a Cultural Cinema Centre.