Revamped High Street Hive want to show people how great Newton is

Launched in 2022, the High Street Hive is a collection of residents and business owners around Newton-le-Willows.

Over the past two years, the group has organised several community events along the high street, including the particularly popular Christmas markets.

With a few Hive members moving on, more volunteers have joined the team recently, as it looks to further promote Newton-le-Willows as an attractive place to visit or invest in.

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Newton In Bloom has been one of the previous beneficiaries of the High Street Hive (Image: St Helens Star)
While the revamped group intends to continue and grow its community events, they now aim to make connections with local businesses and organisations to showcase Newton as an attractive place to invest in.

This will be carried out through various networking events, which the Hive group hopes will build on the growing reputation of Newton in recent years.

Newton's diverse range of independent businesses on the High Street, as well as the town's parks, canals, and transport links has built the area into one of the hottest property sellers across the country. Events such as the Newton Town Show, High Street Parade, and Christmas markets have helped to further boost the area's reputation and foster a growing community spirit.

The group also feels that the networking strategy will assist with the recently launched Newton Town Board, which will create an investment plan on how to spend the £19.5million of government funding over the next decade.

The group aim to build on the town's growing reputation, helped by community events such as the High Street parade (Image: Norma Bolan)
Secretary of the High Street Hive, Jack Lynch, said: "The Hive still has the same ideas such as supporting local businesses and charities, but we now have a more engaged focus on networking and expanding with businesses.

"We want to bring people from outside Newton-le-Willows to show them how great the area is.

"We have some amazing businesses on the High Street, but this isn't all that Newton and Earlestown is, so we want to celebrate and attract investment across the whole area.

"The group is all volunteer-led who care passionately about the area, and hopefully we can continue capitalising on people coming to visit the area."

One project that the Hive will focus on in the coming months is the Newton Christmas Markets, with the group aiming to attract further businesses, visitors, and sponsors to create a market that can eventually rival neighbouring cities.