There are no kitchen facilities currently in the church, so using Canolfan Pennant is their only option.

Between 60 and 80 bacon (or sausage) butties are served each month and so far more than £8,000 has been raised towards the fundraising.

The Vicar of St Thomas’ Church, Norman Morris, said: “The idea for the bacon butty sessions came about after Covid in February 2022. We’ve recently celebrated three years of serving bacon butties and the team was delighted to realise so much money had been raised through their volunteering efforts. This is an amazing achievement for a small village like Penybontfawr.

“It’s not just about turning up on a Saturday morning. We’ve had to ensure we meet all the necessary food hygiene requirements. Powys County Council Hygiene Inspectors recently visited and approved everything we’re doing and we passed with flying colours.”

Almost ten years ago, St Thomas’ was facing closure with this part of Montgomery Archdeaconry having a number of small churches with tiny, unsustainable congregations. While some closed and three joined the pilgrim church scheme, St Thomas’ was saved from closure, and the congregation has been re-invigorated with the arrival of new members.

The plan now is to raise funds to renew the roof slates on the Victorian church and carry out general refurbishments, with the intention of installing a small kitchen and toilet facilities.

Norman added: “Saturday morning Bacon Butties at Penybontfawr is a fine example of the church filling a social need post-Covid, while raising the profile of the church. And it’s all been self-financing without grant support from the diocese.

“The hope now is to refurbish St Thomas’ so it can continue to be an active place of worship and also have better facilities to meet the needs of people of the village!”

Bacon Butties at Penybontfawr takes place on the second Saturday of every month in Canolfan Pennant in the centre of the village from 10am – 12noon.