AN HR manager quit her nine to five job and spent £20,000 of her savings setting up a mobile cinema and events company.

Victoria Hill decided it was time for a change when she turned 40 and became ill with kidney disease.

She set up Spectrum Screen Events which shows movies at village halls and runs events including bingo.

Gazette:

Mrs Hill, from Coggeshall, said: “Turning 40 and becoming ill were the wake-up calls I needed.

“I have three sons, two of them are autistic, and I wanted to create something they could join me in when they’re older.

“My job meant I spent a lot of time away from my family but the time had come where I needed to be at home with them and do something for their future.

”My husband Antony and I are never able to go to the cinema because a babysitter seems like such a waste as it’s so anti-social - you sit in silence and never go as a group.”

Mrs Hill, an HR manager for ten years, was already a business partner in Reel Picture House, which she started with a friend four years ago, so she knew there was a market for community cinema.

She said: “Me and my husband spent £20,000 of our savings to fund it because we both believe in the idea, plus I like for us to be in control of our own destiny.”

The cinema screenings promise to be a “social experience”.

There is time allocated before the start and at the end of a movie for socialising, and guests sit at candlelit cloth-covered tables with cushions.

During a one-hour interval old-fashioned ushers serve popcorn and snacks, and there is also a bar.

Mrs Hill said: “Everyone claps at the end of a film like a theatre performance and there’s always a warm welcome from someone at the start and end rather than a faceless entity.

“I hope the cinema gives people positive feelings about their community and it brings a different demographic of people together.

“Everyone can come along and sit next to someone they can chat with, which is important for mature people and those who aren’t as comfortable going out to the cinema at night.

The first screening at Marks Tey village hall is Lady in a Van, starring Maggie Smith, on Friday, April 1 at 7pm.

Tickets cost £5 and can be bought at Poplar Nurseries Farm Shop in Coggeshall Road, Marks Tey, or at spectrumscreenevents.co.uk.