Llanfair Caereinion Community Café will be re-opening with extended hours to cover lunchtimes and afternoons.

Having served nearly 500 people during its pilot phase in 2022, the Community café at Llanfair Caereinion Institute is re-opening following a winter break on January 12.

The facility will be introducing extended opening hours on Friday and will be open weekly from 12pm until 4pm, serving hot savoury snacks, soup and homemade cakes. Organisers of the café say that the revised opening hours reflect customer trends and feedback, to cover lunchtime and the afterschool pickups.

One of the café leaders, Ruth Bates, said: “The purpose of the cafe is to provide a safe space for people of all ages to meet, network and socialise.

“If you do know of somebody who would like to attend but is unable to due to transport or mobility issues, please let us know and we will do our best to help arrange support so that they can attend.”

Llanfair’s Community Café project was launched in April 2023 in a pilot scheme, backed by two grants from Tirgwynt Community Fund and the Mick Bates Community Memorial Trust to help with its marketing and running costs.

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The café is held in The Institute and is run by 27 volunteers from the community who support the day to day running of the project, which reported in September 2022 that it had served nearly 500 people from the area over the course of its months long pilot phase, regularly drawing in 40 people per meeting.

Volunteers say the aim of the community café is to help people re-connect with their community and increase their wellbeing.

Shortly after the pilot phase, Ms Bates said: “Our consultation during the pilot highlighted that the experience of visiting or volunteering at the cafe enhances people’s wellbeing. In turn this helps to combat rural isolation and loneliness, issues that are enduring challenges in rural communities.”

Organisers of the initiative sited statistics from the Office of National Statistics, stating that 1 in 6 people of the Welsh population reports feeling lonely on a regular basis.

A spokesperson from the Café added: “In Powys loneliness is an enduring challenge to combat. Rural isolation, with an increase of people living alone, along with loneliness are two of the biggest health issue affecting Powys. The café provides a safe place for people to meet, network and above all feel valued.”