Blog Post

A new day for St Mair's

Age Connects Morgannwg
Dec 02, 2021

Story continued as St Mair’s becomes Cynon Linc


For more than 150 years, St Mair’s in Aberdare was a fixture of daily life in the town, first as a church and then a popular day centre for older people. All of us at Age Connects Morgannwg are proud to be continuing this tradition as we officially open our new community hub.


St Mair’s Church opened its doors in November 1864, it was built for the Welsh speaking Anglican congregation of Aberdare and served the town for almost 100 years.


When the church was demolished in 1963. the site was developed and rebuilt as the St Mair’s Centre, a day centre for older people in the area. Now, following a major refurbishment project led by Age Connects Morgannwg, the building was officially opened on November 25th as Cynon Linc, a modern hub for the whole community to enjoy.


The grand opening was conducted by Julie James MS, Minister for Climate Change, who unveiled a commemorative plaque in the foyer. The event was attended by many of the key stakeholders who helped make Cynon Linc a reality, the guests enjoyed a tour of the building and refreshments from the inhouse kitchen team.


Plans to redevelop St Mair’s date back to 2015 when we started working on the project with the local authority and Big Lottery. We took over the running of the building in 2018 with construction work starting in August 2020 and completed exactly one year later. The Cynon Linc project was developed by a partnership that also included, Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council, Cwm Taff University Health Board, and partners from the third sector and local community. 


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The vision was to transform the former St. Mair’s Day Centre into a modern and inclusive hub to serve the whole community, and with work now complete Cynon Linc certainly delivers on that vision. The hub includes a large kitchen and coffee shop, doctor’s surgery, over 50s advice and information point, mental health support services and a nail clinic. 


Cynon Linc is also the perfect venue for events, classes, and meetings, it has six rooms to hire including a fully accessible main hall, seating up to 248 attendees. The events programme includes everything from fitness classes for the over 50’s and tech classes for beginners, to weekly youth groups and a work club.


Rachel Rowlands, our CEO, commented “I am so impressed with the redevelopment of Cynon Linc and the work the whole team has done. Despite the extensive challenges created by the pandemic, the project was delivered on time and on budget. The result is a bright, spacious, and welcoming hub that will be a major asset to the whole of the Cynon Valley for many years to come.”


Councillor Nicole Burnett, Chair of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Regional Partnership Board said: “As a Regional Partnership Board, which manages £5m of Integrated Care Fund (ICF) Capital monies across the region, it’s always wonderful to see fantastic ICF funded projects come to life. The hub, which received £1.3M of ICF funding, is a truly impressive, and clearly developed with the heart and soul of the community in mind.”


The renovation of Cynon Linc was funded by The Welsh Government Integrated Care Fund and several other funding bodies, these included The National Lottery Community Fund, Dunhill Medical Trust and Pen Y Cymoedd.


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