Community Cafe grew out of Monkton Movies- a small group showing films and documentaries at Monkton Wyld community, near Axminster, Devon. The project was launched with funding which provided a projector and covered other basic set-up costs.The target audience was the mature and elderly within the rural community. Films tended towards those addressing environmental issues. Monkton Movies is a very informal group meeting on the third Thursday of the month, usually in the Old Library of Monkton Wyld Court http://www.monktonwyldcourt.co.uk/
In the summer of 2012, a new core group, comprising Phil Foggitt, Gilly Jackson and Catherine Siddle started looking at options for moving the project forward. Our priorities were to educate the wider community, but also ourselves; to bring people together in a comfortable space and encourage them to stay after films to discuss and exchange ideas and views. We all agreed we wanted the group to continue meeting at Monkton but were interested in bringing these films and documentaries to a broader audience. So, in September 2012, Boston Tea Party were approached to propose showing "alternative" docs and films in the cafe. An important element of this choice of venue were the ethical principles on which Boston's is founded. http://www.bostonteaparty.co.uk/about-us/charity
The first film to be shown at Boston Tea Party (Honiton) was "Gasland" on 10th January 2013