The Derbyshire Beehive online community is celebrating the launch of its 300th site.

The addition is also the first site to focus on a research project, telling the story of Derby Millennium Network, launched in 1999 to bring together black and minority ethnic community groups in the city.

Schools, sports clubs, charities, hobby societies, amateur dramatic companies and self-help groups are among those that have joined the county's online community since its launch in December, 1999.

Derby Millennium Network project co-ordinator Emmanuel Williams said: "For a group like ours, with limited funds and time, this free resource has been a great benefit. It has given us access to technology, and an online presence with a direct link to training and support that we would not have had."

Peter Richardson, chief executive of Beehive sponsor the Derbyshire Building Society, said: "Working with the Beehive enables us to translate our business commitment to the wider community, encouraging greater and more varied communication through the use of the internet.

"The partners involved in the 300th site have really taken the initiative and have put the internet to fantastic use.

"They have produced great results and I would like to congratulate them all on a truly innovative and exciting development. It demonstrates the real opportunities that are waiting for us all on the web."

Derbyshire's Beehive Community Network was launched in 1999 to provide straightforward and free websites for non-profit-making organisations. Its success has led to 23 similar online community networks being set up by local newspapers across the country. There are now more than 3,000 Beehive sites nationwide.

In November, the Derbyshire Beehive was named Best Online Community Service at the Newspaper Society New Media Awards.

Community publishing manager for NEP (Midlands), Bimmy Rai, describes the Beehive as a fantastic opportunity for the non-profit sector to have a presence on the internet.

She said: "This is a valuable resource for the community and I'm committed to see that it becomes a great success."

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