THE biggest stars in Hollywood will soon be entertaining youngsters at Yorkhill Hospital For Sick Children after the completion of a dream that was four years in the making.

The Glasgow hospital is the latest to work with the charity MediCinema to install a big screen for patients.

These pictures tell the story of the transformation that will give seriously-ill children a little taste of Tinseltown.

Youngsters and their families will be transported from the worries of the wards, if only for a few hours, thanks to the work of a dedicated hospital team and hundreds of supporters.

They will be able to see the latest blockbusters in surround sound in the 55-seat cinema.

The idea came from staff, including former press officers Ryan Taylor and Irene Kielty, who began raising the £300,000 necessary to convert one of the hospital's existing lecture theatres into the cinema auditorium.

Dozens of firms, schools, families and individuals chipped in.

Shona Cardle, executive director of Yorkhill Children's Foundation, said: "Staff, including John Hughan and Johnny Bryden, formed a committee on their own and they were very successful.

"But when they realised the scale of the project, the foundation became involved to help find contributors."

Shona said: "The lecture was just a large room with a blackboard, chairs and a piano up at the back - nobody knows what that was doing there."

But the space has been kitted out with retractable seating that allows it to be used for lectures when needed. Dark blue and red carpets give the area a cinema feel and an entrance decorated with film reels has been installed.

"Everything has been designed to give children the whole experience of going to the cinema," added Shona.

"The colours have been chosen to give the area that film house atmosphere.

"It is important for the children to feel they are gettingaway from the hospital for a couple of hours.

"We have not forgotten the families because they often have to spend long periods away from home with their children.

"The whole family can see a film, so it is the next best thing to being able to go for a day out."

Fundraising took years, but the work done this year took less than three months to complete, Shona said: "We did have some extra work to do.

"Soundproofing the floor was a must because the hospital's accident and emergency department is below the cinema. You can't have James Bond blaring out when children are coming into casualty!

"But it only took 10 weeks to give us our own cinema."

The Glasgow Film Theatre offered advice and sent staff to the hospital to help train volunteers and the MediCinema is recruiting a full-time projectionist.

Big name film distributors and makers, including Disney, will supply films to the hospital.

All will be the Hollywood-style reels and will also be available at the time they are still in the cinema and before the films are available on DVD.

Final preparations are under way for a gala launch early next year and fundraising will continue to pay the running costs of the cinema.

Organisers are hoping a Scottish film star willcut the ribbon on opening night.

Robert Carlyle's wife, Anastasia, gave birth to daughter Ava and son Harvey at the Queen Mother's Maternity Hospital next door and the actor played a leading role in the campaign to save the lifesaving link between Yorkhill and the Queen Mum's.

Ewan McGregor and Robbie Coltrane, a children's favourite after his portrayal of Hagrid in the Harry Potter series, are patrons of the charity that has brought the magic of the silver screen to children in hospitals across the country.

Robbie said: "Going to the movies is something we all take for granted, but for those in hospital it's not an option.

"If the kids can't get to the cinema, then the cinema has to come to them!"

Laughter is still the best medicine

MediCinema opened its first venue in 1999 at St Thomas' Hospital in London and there are now others at Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, and Newport, Wales.

The first experiment in "big screen therapy" offered space for 100 people, including patients who could not leave their beds or wheelchairs.

Charity worker Christine Hill came up with the idea after she saw children taken out of the hospital in beds to watch boats sailing on the River Thames to give them something to do.

With the help of the Virgin cinema group, later taken over by UGC, she set about introducing alternatives.

Ms Hill upholds the MediCinema principle that "laughter is still the best medicine of all".

Independent research among users of the first cinema showed they were more relaxed and comfortable, with a quarter able to forget they were in a hospital and a third saying they forgot their condition during a screening.

Each auditorium is designed with room for hospital beds and wheelchairs, with raised seating behind the floor area for patients who are able to make their own way to screenings.

Nurses are always present in the audience to look after any patient who develops a health problem.