PICTURES: Deluxe Bingo in Hastings officially opens

After closing its doors to the public on February 26, 2023, the well-known Hastings' landmark underwent a full refurbishment, both inside and out, following the purchase of the building by Godden Gaming Organisation, which gave The Deluxe a new lease of life. The team is now welcoming customers back, and they are incredibly excited about the future of Deluxe Bingo.

They will offer a packed bingo schedule, five days a week, closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, along with the popular amusement arcade on the ground floor, which is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

On Saturday, the day was packed full of entertainment, including live performances by Beachy Brass, flyers handed out from Renaissance Faire UK cast members and two full bingo sessions.

Jeremy Godden, Director of Godden Gaming Organisation, said: “When we bought the building off Harry Symonds a year ago, we took the time to realise that Hastings needs bingo. So we started with new shopfronts, a new canopy, and gave the bingo hall a full refurbishment, new paintwork, and new TVs, and hopefully we can deliver the fun and social side that bingo brings to so many people.

"What we thought would have been a couple of weeks’ worth of work ended up being a six-month project with 40 to 50 people working here every day to ensure that it's the best that we can do for the people of Hastings and the wider area, because we know lots of people are travelling from Eastbourne, from Ashford, from Tunbridge Wells to come to play bingo. Over the next 6-12 months we're going to continue the refurbishment, which will include opening up more areas, more space to play bingo, and keep delivering the fun social side and hopefully some big jackpot winners along the way."

To celebrate the reopening and the new look of the building, Deluxe Bingo will run a year-long fundraising campaign to raise £10,000 for St Michael's Hospice. It has already donated £1,000.

Steve Peak, a local historian, explains that the Deluxe was a cinema until 1965, called the Royal Cinema de Luxe. In 1910, when it opened as a cinema, a thousand people attended the self-styled "finest cinematograph theatre in the world" on its opening night on November 19.

Steve said: "It remained a cinema until 1965, known as just The Deluxe, which is pronounced locally as deloo rather than deluxe. Then, on July 25, 1965, it reopened as the De Luxe Bingo and Social Club, with the last film shown there being She, starring Ursula Andress.

"In 1970, major changes were made to the building, with the bingo moving to the upper floor and the ground being given over to amusement machines. Some councillors opposed the controversial project, but the proprietor Harry Symonds was given the go-ahead by the council's planning committee as long as he closed Harry's Old Town Bingo premises on the corner of All Saints Street and Rock-a-Nore Road."

Harry Symonds, the original owner, was invited to the opening but unfortunately passed away recently, aged 86.