By Catarina Quintas

Leicester’s number one independent cinema The Phoenix is getting ready for its grand reopening after major renovations at the beginning of January.

The Phoenix, in Midland Street, Leicester, has announced it will be reopening its improved bar and box office area in January.

It has been working on what it calls the Phoenix 2020 Project to construct and expand its space and turn a two-screen cinema into a four-screen venue. The cinema will be complete with a new rooftop terrace and a new art gallery.

The renovations have led to the cinema being completely closed for two months, although the upstairs area is still open and available for clients. In October, while renovation work continued, the cinema returned to working and screening films.

“We wanted to offer our clients a bit more,” said John Attfield, who works at The Phoenix.

It operates not only an independent cinema, but also offers in-person and online courses on many different aspects of cinema, such as The Art of Screenwriting and The Works of David Lynch.

The cinema will reopen Mondays to Fridays from midday to 11pm and during the weekends from 11am to 11pm, with ticket prices ranging from £5 to £15, depending on the type of ticket.

“We regularly organise events and festivals so we’re glad we can finally get back to all that in January,” Mr Attfield added.

The Phoenix has taken donations from over 300 sponsors to complete the renovation and is now seeking more sponsors for this last stretch of the project.

By Catarina Quintas

The Christian unions from De Montfort University and the University of Leicester worked together to hold a long-planned and successful annual carol service.

The two Christian unions brought together many, many people to celebrate the festive season at the service on Wednesday last week(DEC7).

The Christmas carol service included guest speakers, carols, mince pies and hot drinks and took place at the Holy Trinity Church in Leicester.

The DMU branch is also planning a big event called Purpose Week, which is also a collaboration with its University of Leicester counterparts, involving putting on three events a day, and supply breakfast, lunch and dinner for a whole week. It includes  interviews, talks and much more.

“We don’t usually fundraise as most of our finances come from past members and local churches,” said Dan Woolgar, who is in charge of the union’s social media. 

Although they don’t usually fundraise, the unions are planning to do something in order to fund Purpose Week since it is a little out of their budget at the moment.

“Our singular focus is to share the gospel across campus,” Dan added.

The DMU Christian Union meets every Thursday at 7pm in the chaplaincy on campus and often does fun activities as a group such as going bowling last week.

Dan added: “There are 60 members but at a meeting we’ll get anywhere from a dozen to 30.”

Anyone can join the union, there is no membership or charge. As Dan said, the goal is simply to share the gospel.

He added: “The union is giving every student at De Montfort University the opportunity to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus.”