Welcome to the Projected Picture Trust

From the 1960s onwards, Picture Palaces were being boarded up, turned into bingo halls, split into multiscreens or razed to the ground for redevelopment. Projection equipment was being thrown into skips or sold for scrap. It was these developments that in 1978 led to the birth of the PPT by the then BFI Technical Officer, Charles Beddow. Convinced that much of Britain’s arts heritage would be lost forever, he successfully created a steering committee and the rest, as they say, is history.

Run by an eclectic mix of respected industry professionals and cinema enthusiasts, the trust boasts a world-class collection of cinema technology artefacts and a growing digital archive that will eventually become an accessible hub of knowledge for just about anyone interested in finding out more about this fascinating, if often overlooked, side of our much-loved business.

With an impressive portfolio of real-world expertise, ideas as grand as the films we screen and hard-working, enthusiastic volunteers, the PPT has the potential to become a world leader in the field of cinema technology preservation.

The PPT, has a base at Dean Clough Mills, Halifax where the majority of the equipment is stored and there are displays across the country. The PPT goes well beyond just collecting equipment. The trust has a huge range of working projection and sound systems and is able to provide the expertise to install and operate for events such as film festivals. Equipment can also be provided as props for film makers.

The images change every few seconds. Hover over one to pause and the arrows allow you to move through the 11 images.

Meet our team

Charles Beddow II
President

Thinking of becoming a member?

The Projected Picture Trust would love to welcome you as a new member.

As a member you would be free to participate in the activities of the trust in any way that suits your time and skills and meet others with similar interests. Or you can just have the satisfaction of knowing you are aiding the trust in its efforts to preserve the magic of cinema.

Members can participate in outings and visits, including those organised by the Cinema Theatre Association, access the Member zone on this website and have their say at the annual general meeting. They receive a copy of our magazine, Rewind, every three months and have access, via the Member zone of this website, to an archive of around twenty years of Rewind.

Rates

The PPT uses PayPal for the collection of membership fees. Payments can be made using a PayPal account or most credit/debit cards. Transactions use PayPal's secure system and no details of the PayPal or card accounts are passed to the PPT.

Please do not use this form for renewing your membership (a renewal form can be found here).

Pl​ease select the type of membership from the dropdown list. Select whether Gift Aid should be claimed (see below).

If you have selected family membership list the names of other members of your family. We would appreciate you telling us your reason for joining. 

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Gift Aid 

If you pay UK tax the Projected Picture Trust may be able to claim Gift Aid on your membership fee. By agreeing to Gift Aid being claimed you confirm you will have paid at least the same amount as the membership fee in Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in the current tax year.                     

D​onations are always very welcome but we stress they are entirely optional. Click the Donate button below. Type the amount you wish to pay. You may need to set country to United Kingdom. Complete all details, check they are correct and click PAY NOW.

If you wish to add a donation to your membership fee please make the donation using this form. We regret the service provided for us by PayPal does not offer the facility to add a donation when using the Joining or Renewing forms.