A SPECIAL celebration is being held to mark the last day of De Bees, an entertainment venue in Winsford for 23 years.

A party will be held on Saturday, February 1 as work starts to turn the building, now renamed The Hive, into a community cinema, live music venue and community asset.

The Hive Live Ltd, a charitable community benefit society, has been running fundraising nights at De Bees since July to raise money to buy the building into community ownership.

More than £50,000 has been raised, thanks to the tireless work of volunteers.

A further £51,000 has been invested by local residents in community shares through the Ethex platform which brought the total to £80,000.

This sum was then doubled to £160,000 through a share match fund from Big Society Capital.

Winsford businessman Damon Horrill, who led the bid, said: "Over 100 local people invested in the community share offer and became members. It will have taken a huge leap of faith as there have only ever been about 100 other communities in the whole country to successfully purchase their pub into common ownership. As such we owe our new investor members a huge debt of thanks."

The Hive directors have completed the purchase of De Bees last week so the Winsford based charitable community benefit society is now the owner of the venue.

Plans to raise a further £100,000 to fully renovate the building have also been successful.

Co-operative and Community Finance has agreed a £50,000 loan and More Than A Pub has pledged a £50,000 grant.

Refurbishment work to reconfigure the building will begin next month and The Hive is set to open mid March.

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"So February 1 will go down in history as the very last day of De Bees," said Damon, "After 23 years keeping Winsford entertained, a party will be had.

"The Hive will open seven days a week with a varied programme to appeal to all ages, tastes and abilities from live bands to bingo and gaming tournaments to tea dances and cinema to comedy and everything imaginable in between, including big weekender party nights."

The full programme will be unveiled in the coming weeks.