About Us

About Us

Right in the heart of Whitley Bay, the Jam Jar Cinema offers the best in local, friendly, affordable, inclusive and diverse cinema. Following our expansion in 2019 we now have three screens, two bar areas and a lift that makes Jam Jar accessible for all.

While the bigger, multiplex cinemas concentrate on their screens, seats and sound, we take these high standards as a given. Instead we prefer to focus on our wonderful staff, maintaining excellent customer service and ensuring complete accessibility for all. We believe a trip to the cinema is unique. It's a delight, a treat and a pleasure - nothing else can beat it for sheer escapism and sense of wonder. It can transport you from the daily chores and routine to a different realm, place, time or even galaxy.

What Makes You Different? 
Well first  off all of this is available at the centre of Whitley Bay! The Jam Jar Cinema means no transport headaches, no over-priced food and a relaxed, cosy, inviting bar to unwind in. We offer a cosy hug rather than a corporate handshake. We have friendly faces to welcome you - not a soulless machine on the wall. Jam Jar staff are movie-fanatics - we eat, drink, think film. We can't wait to see the latest flick and we love choosing the best of what's to come for our community to enjoy.   
What Are The Tier Prices?
We believe that cinema should be accessible to all - just like it was when you used to be able to get in with a Jam Jar! Unfortunately, the world we life in doesn't allow such things but we proudly did away with age based and job based pricing in 2019. We became England's first 'Pay As You Please' cinema. So we have 3 tiers, where you get to choose what's right for your financial situation. We aim for an average ticket price of Tier 2. Currently this is £9 and £9.50 for Christmas shows.
However, we get that some people might need to pay less. Or they may want to. You could be far off from payday, or you might not have one coming. You might be getting dragged along to a film you don't want to see with a friend. You might want to pay less for a child, a student or a pensioner that's fine- we ask you to pay Tier 1 currently £7.50 and £8.50 for Christmas.
Similarly, You might be a bit flush this month or you might be booking an age in advance for a film the day it goes on sale. You might have a big pension or a great paying job. You may just think "it's more expensive to go to a multiplex or another boutique cinema, why should I pay less" - we ask you to pay a little more  - Tier 3 currently £10.50.

There is no difference in your seating inside the auditorium and there is no judgement what you pay - just great cinema!
We review prices quarterly and the more people pay at the tier 3, the more we can afford to subsidise tier 1


The Historic Jam Jar Cinema Model

Jam Jar Cinema is a historic idea where you used to be able to get into the cinema at a discounted rate, or for free, on production of a Jam Jar. This originated in North Tyneside and continued until the 1970’s when the value of glass dropped. By this time it had spread to cinemas all over the country, typically in areas of heavy industry: Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow; where it was known as J’eely Jar Cinema. But it started here in North Tyneside. We could think of no finer name for our community cinema than ... Jam Jar Cinema!



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