We have two teens and have tried to model sensible phone usage but we ourselves often struggle to just PUT THE DAMN THING DOWN! We came up with the idea one morning, got the bit between our teeth and by lunchtime were sitting in The Olive Tree looking at the space and thinking it an excellent choice. Fortunately when we approached the manager, Carly, she was totally on board and within 10 days we were all set to get started! Our first meet up was at the end of March 2025 so we are still relatively new. Our first two evenings have been great fun and we really look forward to welcoming more new people to the idea!

We hope that by having a totally tech/phone free space for meeting up, people will be encouraged to get out and try what it’s like to have an evening free of any distractions. We have all kinds of games available, we chat, genuinely and without interruptions, and we just generally have a good time! Some folks have bribed their teens with the idea of some food and drink and fun, and they’ve all had a hilarious time!

It can be a bit challenging at times, we’ve had situations where some has wanted to exchange a phone number, the natural thing is to whip out your phone but instead we have pens and paper! Last time a group of us were sharing things about ourselves using the conversation starter prompts. Somebody shared they had a giant house rabbit and of course we all wanted to see it! But nah-uh! We all just had to use our imaginations like the old days and guess what, we all lived!!

Come along and try Beyond the Screen yourself, we promise you a warm welcome and a good time!