A church hall in Llay is to open as a pop-up coffee shop, serving Swedish style cinnamon buns, cakes and pastries.

Bread of Heaven will be run from St Martin’s Church Hall in the centre of Llay and will open every Saturday morning (from 19 September), from 9am until 12noon.

The building has been refurbished inside to offer a smart, contemporary café-feel for customers to match the ‘fika’ style menu.

The transformation has been inspired by the Vicar of Llay, the Revd Tracey Byrne, who has hand-picked the furnishings and worked with members of the congregation to create the new space. Tracey said: “I first came across fika when I travelled to Sweden on a Young Farmers travel scholarship in the early 1980s.  I loved the idea of taking time out of the day to socialise with friends and family while enjoying good quality coffee and fresh pastries.

“Our cinnamon buns and Swedish chocolate balls will be handmade using local and fairtrade ingredients wherever possible, and we’ll also be offering more traditional cakes, pastries and fairtrade coffee.

“We look forward to welcoming people to the café, which will offer something different in the local community.”

The transformation of the church hall will also allow the congregation of St Martin’s to run community events during the week. On Tuesday afternoons, Toastie Tuesdays will offer an after-school space for parents and children from years 1 to 4. After Christmas, a regular lunch-club will begin, along with a Dementia café and a Bereavement Cafe. Long-running Bingo nights will continue weekly in the church.

Tracey added: “St Martin’s has benefitted from a number of grants which have enabled this refurbishment of the hall. With this new lease of life, we hope the hall will help and support more people in the local community.”

Bread of Heaven will be staffed by local volunteers. It will be open every Saturday from Saturday 19 September between 9am – 12noon.

St Martin’s Church is part of the Alyn Mission Area, one of the 20 Mission Areas making up the Diocese of St Asaph within the Church in Wales.