Hucknall cinema boss 'blown away' after finishing runner-up in national contest

Mark Gallagher was shortlisted for honours in the UK Cinema Heroes Award, which was run in association with the new Sam Mendes film Empire of Light.

To celebrate the film’s release, the UK Cinema Association and Searchlight Pictures went looking nationwide for the unsung cinema heroes keeping the magic of the big screen alive for communities up and down the UK.

And after making the final top 10 shortlist, Mark has now been named as one of the runners-up in the event.

His prize is a trip for two to rub shoulders with the stars attend a red carpet movie premiere in London later this year.

Mark said: “I don’t know if I get to choose the movie or it will be chosen for me but either way I’m blown away, I’ve always wanted to attend a film premiere and now I will.

“I never had any thoughts that I would win anything, just to make the top 10 shortlist was a prize enough for me.

“A lot of people on that list were veterans who’d been running cinemas for 40 years or more – I’d actually heard of a couple of them, that’s how well known they’d become.

“But the effort and work that goes into the events I organise here in in Hucknall is a lot so to be recognised for that is amazing.”

Mark also praised his team at the cinema on High Street and the people who voted for him.

He said: “It’s great recognition for Hucknall and I do share this accolade with all the people at the cinema and everyone at head office who’ve been so supportive since the first time I rang them up and asked if I could put on an event for £2,000 and they said ‘go on then’.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

“From a personal perspective, of course it’s a very proud moment for me and it will encourage me even more now to keep going and keep organising these events in the knowledge it’s now getting recognised on a national level.”