Activities at Hunters Care Home

A brilliant candlelight festive piano concert at Hunters this evening, as we were joined by the fantastic PianoHedgehog once again.

Rob led the residents in a whole host of magical Christmas carols and classic songs. Everyone was in a fantastic voice, and we were all left feeling more festive than ever, aided by a glass of sherry or two. A wonderful evening, thank you, Rob, we all had a lovely time.   

Christmas Party week at Hunters, and we kicked things off with a celebration for our wonderful residents living in our Memory Lane Community.

Once again, the kitchen team served up a delicious buffet lunch, including yummy desserts. This was followed by a festive performance from one of our own carers, Thara, and her husband, Marlon. They were both incredible and had us all up on our feet singing and dancing the afternoon away. Then it was the turn of our General Community to enjoy a fun and festive afternoon. 

The dining room looked fantastic, with more delicious food served up by our kitchen team and live music from the always brilliant Earl Tee Music. Solo, it was a party to remember.

So much fun and Christmas cheer, so great to see so many residents enjoying themselves. It was a week that definitely got us in the mood for Christmas! 

A couple of magical trips to Dobbies Garden Centre in Cirencester this week to see their fantastic Christmas displays and gifts.

Lots of fun seeing all the amazing decorations, indulging in a little retail therapy and sampling their delicious tea and cakes, of course. 

Dobbies remains a favourite destination for many of our residents, especially during the festive season.

Today we welcomed back the wonderful Walks With Hawks to Hunters. One of our most popular sessions, these beautiful birds are a real favourite with our residents.

They were accompanied by the fantastic Kellie and Al, who introduced us to Gerald, an American Kestrel, Mowgli, an Indian Scops owl and the return of the brilliant Pickle, a cheeky burrowing owl. Such a fun afternoon, lots of smiling faces, a real treat for everyone. Thank you to Kellie, Al and all the birds of prey. We will see you again soon.        

Another incredible visit from JJ's reptiles exotic encounters today and, as usual, we all had a great time meeting more wonderful reptiles.

Jordan and Tyrese were fantastic, introducing us to all the creatures, as well as telling us all about their diets, habits and origins. 

We got to meet Steve the scorpion, Domino the gecko, Lilo the royal python and Scooby the boa constrictor. The star of the show was definitely “big” Barry the Burmese Python. At 14 feet long, he definitely drew a few gasps from all of us. Not to mention he was heavy! A great afternoon, lots of fun and more fears faced.   

A great day of festive food at Hunters. First, our Memory Lane residents had fun decorating Christmas gingerbread biscuits. Lots of laughter and maybe a little mess, but the end results were fantastic, and delicious with a nice cuppa.

Then our General Community had a go at making peppermint creams in festive colours. Again, fun and amusement was had making these yummy treats that the residents enjoyed eating or saving to give to family and friends as Christmas gifts.

Overall, a brilliant, delicious day!

A busy week at Hunters this week, first assembling and then decorating our many Christmas trees.

Lots of fun and festive cheer as we got to grips with putting together 7-foot trees in our communal areas in both communities.

Then the decorating started. With a wide array of different coloured baubles, our wonderful residents did a fantastic job of bringing the trees to life. It’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas…  

Today our regular knitting club had some very special guests as a few of the lovely children from The Farm Nursery popped in to say hello.

The residents loved meeting these new friends and everyone had a great time getting to know each other. Our residents showed off some of their knitted treasures and the children showed off their jigsaw puzzle skills as well as some yoga!

The nursery is part of The Organic Farm Shop, Abbey Home Farm, which is a stone's throw away from Hunters. It was wonderful to see different generations enjoying each other’s company and the smiles and laughter say it all.

We can't wait to invite Maya, Kellie and Lucy as well as all the brilliant children to Hunters again soon.

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday this weekend and Remembrance Day next week, Hunters have been remembering the service and sacrifice of all those who fought for our freedom.

Our own knitting club has been busy creating amazing poppies to produce a beautiful tribute to all of our brave heroes. 

Well done everyone. Lest We Forget.

Another incredible performance from the very talented Philip Heyman this week, that was both joyous and moving.

Philip is a viola player who was once a former Principal viola with the Welsh National Opera and has become a firm favourite here at Hunters. With a mix of classical, opera and contemporary pieces, Philip had a full room in awe as he delighted us with his music. We cannot wait to welcome Philip back in the future.   

Our final Gfitness session of the year took place this week, and it definitely had a Christmas feel. The residents wore festive hats as Matt led them through some chair-based exercises all along to some classic Christmas music.

These fitness sessions with Matt are one of the most popular activities on our weekly planner, being great for encouraging mobility in our residents as well as providing a fun and social environment for them to enjoy.

We can’t wait to welcome Matt back for more fitness fun in 2026.   

Well you know it’s getting close to Christmas at Hunters when we enjoy our annual mince pie making!
Led by Head Chef Leo, our residents had fun rolling out pastry, shaping it into the pans and filling them with delicious mincemeat. Then there was a (mostly) patient wait whilst they baked in the oven before being enjoyed with a nice cuppa.

Lots of fun as residents reminisced about making and eating mince pies every festive season. As well as those that had never made their own before.

The results were delicious!    

A delicious afternoon of pizza making here at Hunters. 

This is always a popular activity and residents had great fun rolling out dough, adding their favourite toppings before the pizzas were cooked up and enjoyed!

It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves with a mixture of residents who hadn’t had the chance to make a pizza for a long time as well as those for who it was their first try. The final results were…delicious!  

Halloween at Hunters is always a big event and this year was no different. Lots of spooky fun at our Halloween party, with live music from the brilliant PianoHedgehog, fun decorations and costumes as well us yummy themed treats.

Lots of singing, dancing and laughter as our residents really got into the spirit and embraced the occasion.

We had a delicious afternoon of cheese and wine at Hunters last week. 

These events are always popular with the residents, who enjoy sampling some of their favourite cheeses as well as trying new ones. All washed down with wine, what could be better? With added cheese and wine-themed trivia, it was such a fun afternoon, with residents already making requests for specific cheeses for the next one.