Machynlleth’s older residents have flocked to book places at two Christmas lunch events hosted by the town’s mayor at Y Plas.

The Pensioners Lunch, as the events are known, are hosted by mayor Jeremy Paige, who offers people the chance to come and have a meal for an affordable price.

The events, which are this year being held on on 7 and 14 December, have been running for many years, supported by the Mayor’s Fund.

The mayor said: “The Pensioners Lunch has been running for many years. It stopped during the Covid pandemic, but came back last year.

"We launched it with heavy subsidies to encourage people to come out again. It went very well, we had local school children singing and I played some songs on my guitar and hosted a bingo game.

“The point of this is to offer people the chance to come and have a good meal for a good price, with good people. It gives a sense of community and connection.

"We try to reach out to people who are alone and let them know it’s an easy place to feel comfortable, come out, and be yourself.”

“It’s always been quite a success and we’ve got it back to the same popularity it was before the pandemic. We’re hosting two events throughout December, both of them sold out within days.”

Though Cllr Paige won’t be picking up his guitar this year, another member of Machynlleth Town Council, who the mayor called ‘a fine musician’, Alwyn Evans, will be performing various Christmas songs before Cllr Paige ends the event with a game of bingo.

Though the events in December are fully booked, you may still get the chance to attend a Pensioners Lunch. Cllr Paige is hopeful that another event will take place in January and said more information will be posted to Y Plas’ Facebook page.