Students’ charity outdoor film event sells out in two weeks

Four Events Management students from the University of Northampton have successfully demonstrated their organisation and promotion skills as they sold all the tickets to their open air cinema event taking place in May within two weeks of them going on sale.

The Cinema under the Stars will be showing the 1970s classic film, Grease, at Highgate House in Northamptonshire on Friday 13 May, with the money raised through ticket sales being donated to the Hope Centre.

Katie Gale, Chloe Russell Flint, Sapphire Goody and Sarah Spencer are all in the third year of the BA (Hons) Event Management course and are responsible for the promotion, organisation and planning of the event. They chose the Hope Centre for all the work it does supporting homeless and socially disadvantaged people in Northampton.

The tickets went on sale on 14 March and all 175 were sold out within two weeks.

Katie commented: “Although organising such a large event has been challenging, it has been very rewarding due to the amount of people that have shown an interest in our event. We have definitely learnt that social media is the best way to promote events, with over 1,000 people engaging with our Facebook page alone. We are all extremely excited to run this event, especially if it helps to increase awareness of the Hope Centre and all the work it does, and to raise as much money as we can.”

Emma Bryant, Sales Manager from Highgate House, said: “What a great night the Cinema under the Stars event is looking to be. With a phenomenal amount of interest on social media, it’s definitely generated a lot of hype and is an evening that everyone is talking about. Due to the fantastic success the students from the University of Northampton have made of this, it is an event that Highgate House hopes to continue in the future.”

Claire Leer, Senior Lecturer in Events Management at the University of Northampton, commented: “We are delighted to be working with the Hope Centre for a fifth year. Each year a group of final year Events Management students propose a new event concept and this year’s has been outstanding. Their social media campaign has resulted in the event selling out within a matter of weeks. This is the first year we have worked with Highgate House and are very thankful for its generosity and support.”