A PLANNING application has been submitted for wheelchair access to a community cinema, as part of a move to honour Len Saunders.

Len, known as ‘Len Banana’, was 65 when he died in hospital on Sunday, July 30, 2017 – nine days after he was attacked on Ward Street because he did not give a 17-year-old drunken yob a cigarette.

He was a key member of Lucem House Community CinemaPlus on Corporation Street, which, prior to his death, was desperately seeking permission to establish wheelchair access to their venue.

However, following Len’s death his family asked for donations towards the wheelchair access in his memory and raised £3,000 from the shocked community.

Now, directors at the venue are elated after gaining a further £10,000 of Big Lottery funding towards the project. After free help and designs from architect John Hall – they now have a plan in place.

Directors Dave Morris and Ann Shacklady-Smith, said: “We are pleased to say that we’ve secured £10,000 Big Lottery funding for the ramp and hope that now we have plans that do not back onto the court land and use our own, it will be accepted.

"The front steps will hopefully be converted into a S ramp with steps for able bodies to the right.

“From the very beginning we wanted to make Lucem House accessible for everyone, now thanks to donations and this funding, as well as support, we can hopefully do just that.”

Lucem House is a community small cinema, who host community groups and events as well as screenings of international, independent and foreign films.