St Albans cinema cash shortfall Herts Advertiser 28 January 2010

Local residents have probably by now seen the pessimistic and scaremongering front page story in today’s Herts Advertiser, about how the Rex bid to raise £1 million to buy the Odeon has only reached £100,00 in hard cash, with two weeks to go to exchanging contracts.

Why oh why don’t people realise that ‘campaigning’ often means parting with money i.e. writing a cheque for a substantial sum; there usually comes a point where yet more hot air and a well intentioned fiver don't cut it.

It would be nice to see the Herts Ad and Archant Regional, its parent group, part with a few thousand for the Odeon, an issue which they’ve used so frequently recently to bolster local interest in their paper. Similarly St Albans Civic Society could do something constructive …maybe a sponsored chair or a loan.

You can’t have it both ways, guys – you can’t undermine a rescue attempt you haven’t really tried to help.