Hunters Care Centre - Barchester Healthcare

28/10/2025

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.

For more information about Hunters Care Home please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

24/10/2025

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 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.

For more information about Hunters Care Home, please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

21/10/2025

Some wonderful Autumnal themed arts and crafts on our Memory Lane Community last week.

Residents had a great time leaf painting, to make a bright and colourful display for the wall of their dining room.

Lots of fun was had and it was great to see our residents trying something new. All the smiles say it all, well done everybody.

for more information about Hunters Care Home, please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

17/10/2025

A couple of Community Events to talk about at Hunters this week.

First we welcomed Phillipa Bruce-Kerr who jouned us on behalf of the Symponia group to give a talk on Lasting Power of Attorney and Wills. Many residents joined the session, and had lots of questions for Phillipa.

Next we had a Financial Planning Session where we were joined by Stuart Emerson who was representing the Society of Later Life Advisers and wanted to give some advice to residents and their families about the different options they had when entering certain stages of life and care.

Both sessions were great and very informative to our residents, families and the community.

For more information about Hunters Care Home please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

14/10/2025

A delicious afternoon of cheese and wine at Hunters last week. 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 trivia it was such a fun afternoon, with residents already making requests for specific cheeses for the next one.

For more information about Hunters Care Home, please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

10/10/2025

🎉 Awel-Y-Mor Celebrates Excellent Ratings 🎉

Awel-Y-Mor Care Home in , Swansea passed a recent Care Inspectorate Wales inspection with ‘Excellent’ ratings - the best possible ratings – across the board, after being praised for operating a safe, well-maintained, caring and well-led service.

The CIW report stated that there was a strong sense of belonging and teamwork in the home, nurtured by a very well-respected management team that encourages a positive culture.

Highlighted in the report was that the care staff knew residents well and were dedicated and driven to offering them the best possible care, going above and beyond to do so.

A relative commented: “I can’t speak highly enough about the place, they are so good at the little things, all the residents come first here. My loved one has a good life here.”

Our CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, visited Awel-Y-Mor to congratulate Rachael, General Manager, and her team on the home’s Excellent ratings and award every member of staff a £500 voucher to celebrate their achievement.

Huge congratulations to everyone at Awel-Y-Mor – what a fantastic achievement! 👏

Here are some of the highlights from the day.

10/10/2025

Join us next week for our Community Event, where we will be welcoming Financial Planner & Later Life Specialist Stuart Emerson to Hunters for the first time.

You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss any queries you may have to aid you in planning for your own or a family member’s future.
This event is open to our residents, their family, friends and the wider community.
For more information about Hunters Care Home please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

08/10/2025

⭐ We’re Finalists for the National Care Awards ⭐

We’re delighted to share that Barchester Healthcare has been shortlisted in the Large Care Home Group category for this year’s National Care Awards.

The National Care Awards are the largest awards recognising excellence in the UK care sector, celebrating the very best people and companies across the sector.

A huge congratulations to Aila Evangelista from Atfield House Care Home in , London, a finalist in the Care Registered Nurse of the Year category, and to the entire team at Atfield House Care Home - Barchester Healthcare, also shortlisted for Dignity and Respect Care Home of the Year. 👏

We’re so proud of all our teams who work tirelessly to provide the very best care for residents, patients and their families every single day.

The winners will be announced on 7th November at Park Plaza London – good luck to all the finalists!

08/10/2025

A triple celebration at Hunters once again!

First our Employee of the Month Award for September was given to our Head of Maintenance Darren. Darren was nominated for his hard work, passion and care, not just at Hunters but also other homes that he has helped in recently. Well deserved!

Next our Head Chef Leo has just been promoted to Regional Senior Head Chef! Leo will now be spending some of his time in other Barchester homes, lending a hand and giving advice to other kitchen teams. Congratulations Leo.

Lastly a big congratulations and thank you to our nurse Lydia who has completed 25 years service here at Hunters. Lydia was one of the first members of staff to join Hunters when it opened and is well known by residents, staff and families for her hard work and passion. Thank you Lydia!

07/10/2025

🖌️ Pinetree Residents Get Creative with Mosaic-Making 🎨

As part of their first home anniversary celebrations, and together with volunteers from partner company CBRE UK, colleagues and residents at Pinetree Care Home in set to work on a joint project to commemorate the occasion.

Residents were asked what they would like to do to celebrate and decided to create a beautiful mosaic sign for the home.

The project was a wonderful collaboration that everyone at the home could join in with. The end result is a fitting tribute to the home, which now hangs in reception for all the staff, residents and visitors to enjoy.

A resident commented: “It is so wonderful to try new hobbies, I had never made a mosaic before but I absolutely loved it and have been bitten by the bug! I can’t wait to have another go and see what else we can make. I really enjoyed sitting down with everyone else and working on something together, it gave us all a fantastic sense of achievement.”

What a beautiful mosaic! Well done to all involved. 👏

03/10/2025

♥️ The Power of Music: a heart-warming moment at Ochil Care Home ♥️

Colleagues and residents at Ochil Care Home in were over the moon to uncover a beautiful piece of history when they heard an original recording by one of their much-loved residents, Wilma, who used to be a professional singer years ago.

Wilma’s husband, Donald, had lovingly kept the original master copy of Wilma’s debut album which was recorded in 1996. Staff at the home helped Donald transfer the precious recording onto a CD to preserve it.

Everyone at the home watched the heart-warming moment when Wilma, who is living with dementia, realised the recording being played was her voice from almost thirty years ago. Her reaction was absolutely magical as her memory of that time in her life came flooding back.

What’s more, the video of that extraordinary moment showing the power of music to connect, has now been viewed over 65,000 times.

Such a beautiful moment! ✨

Ochil Care Home - Barchester Healthcare

03/10/2025

We celebrated National Poetry Day yesterday with a fantastic session from our own in house poet Nick. Nick works on our maintenance team and has been passionate about poetry for many years.

He performed a wide range of poems for us with a mixture of his favourites, some that he has penned himself as well as requests from the residents who loved hearing their own favourite poems recited beautifully.

Thank you Nick was a wonderful and moving afternoon that everyone enjoyed.

For more information about Hunters Care Home, please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

01/10/2025

🥨🍻 Oktoberfest Celebrations 🥨🍻

Oktoberfest was a huge hit with residents, patients, families and visitors this year.

Our care homes and hospitals joined in the celebrations with themed decorations, live entertainment, community events and plenty of fun.

Our talented chefs and hospitality colleagues prepared a selection of pretzels and Bavarian dishes, all complemented by some refreshing cold beers.

It was a day to remember - here are some of our favourite moments.

30/09/2025

☕💚 World’s Biggest Coffee Morning ☕💚

Colleagues, residents, patients, families and friends across the country came together to enjoy charity coffee mornings and bake sales, raising funds and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Our care homes and hospitals hosted a variety of community events, inviting everyone to catch up over a cuppa and a slice of something delicious, all for a great cause.

Residents and patients enjoyed spending time with friends and relatives, and members of the local community. Our talented chefs baked plenty of cakes, biscuits and pastries for everyone to sample.

The events were a great success – thank you to everyone who took part and helped support this important cause.

Here are some of our favourite moments. ✨

30/09/2025

Join us next week for our Community Event, where we will be joined by solicitor Phillipa Bruce-Kerr who is part of the Symponia Circle of Care group.

You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss any queries you may have to aid you in planning for your own or a family member’s future.

This event is open to our residents, their family, friends and the wider community.

For more information about Hunters Care Home please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

26/09/2025

Another afternoon of fun and music this week as we welcomed back the always fantastic Earl Tee Music. Solo (Alan) to perform a wonderful set of songs from the 50’s to 70’s.

Everyone was singing and dancing along to some classic rock and roll, beautiful Elvis love songs and even a bit of Sweet Caroline!

A great afternoon full of smiles and laughter.

For more information about Hunters Care Home please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

24/09/2025

🖌️ Virtual V&A Make-along 🎨

In celebration of National Day of Arts in Care Homes, residents and patients across the country enjoyed a wonderful V&A Virtual Make-along experience with Holly from the V&A Learning team and designer-artist Rafin Jannat.

Taking inspiration from the South Asia Gallery at the museum, everyone had the chance to experiment with paints and pigments made from everyday ingredients, creating their own unique artworks.

It was a calming, creative experience that everyone truly enjoyed. A big thank you to the Victoria and Albert Museum team for leading such an inspiring session!

Here are some of our favourite highlights. ✨

National Activity Providers Association

24/09/2025

A slightly belated celebration for August’s Employee of the Month this week at Hunters which was awarded to John who is a fairly new member of the kitchen team.

John joined Hunters a few months ago as a Peri-Chef helping out across a number Barchester homes, but based primarily at Hunters. He has already become part of the family here and was nominated by a large number of residents and staff for his friendly nature, his passion for serving great food, acknowledging the needs of everyone here as well as preparing delicious dishes for all.

Well done John, it’s great to have you on the team!

For more information about Hunters Care Home, please follow this link: https://www.barchester.com/home/hunters-care-centre

22/09/2025

⭐ We’re Finalists in the UK Customer Experience Awards ⭐

It’s awards season and we’re thrilled to share that our talented Customer Experience Team has been shortlisted in not one, but two categories in the prestigious UK Customer Experience Awards:

💡 Best Use of Customer Insight
💻 Best Use of Technology

We’re proud that Barchester Healthcare is the only company from the health sector to be recognised in either of these categories. The winners will be announced at Wembley in October – wish us luck!

Our nomination for Best Use of Customer Insight comes from our Tell Barchester survey, which gathers invaluable feedback each year from more than 13,500 residents, patients and their families. Every single piece of feedback helps us shape and improve the care and services we provide.

In the Best Use of Technology category, our new Connex CRM system, powered by Salesforce, has been recognised for transforming how we manage every customer interaction – making the care journey seamless.

We’re so proud of our team and grateful to everyone who shared their feedback with us.

21/09/2025

World Alzheimer’s Day 2025 – Why It Matters More Than Ever 💜

World Alzheimer’s Day, observed annually on 21st September, is a global event dedicated to raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

With nearly 1 million people in the UK living with dementia, understanding, support and research have never been more important.

Alzheimer’s Day serves as a powerful reminder of the challenges faced by individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s, and the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.

At Barchester, our commitment to dementia care goes beyond World Alzheimer’s Day. We strive to make a difference every day, providing compassionate support, innovative programmes, and expert care for residents, patients and families.

To find out more, please see our latest blog here: https://www.barchester.com/help-and-advice/world-alzheimers-day-2025-why-it-matters-more-ever-barchester

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20/09/2025

Weekly Round Up

This week at Hunters we have celebrated our wonderful Housekeeping team who do an outstanding job, keeping our home clean and bright - a big thank you to the whole team!

We have also been creative this week, arranging flowers and colouring patterns. We have played a classic game a Hunters called 'What's in the Bag?' and with a spring in our step, Mindsong have lead us in all the residents favorite songs!

16/09/2025

⭐ Happy National Housekeeping Week ⭐

This week we’re celebrating the fantastic housekeeping teams across our care homes and hospitals.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to recognise their dedication to keeping everything spotless and creating a welcoming environment for residents, patients, families and visitors.

Thank you to all our colleagues for their continuous hard work and support – you truly make a difference every day.

12/09/2025

🎉 Lotus Manor is Now Open 🎉

We’re excited to share that Lotus Manor Care Home in has opened its doors in style, with a Grand Opening performed by the Deputy Mayor of Guildford, Councillor Jane Tyson, in front of invited guests from the local community.

Our CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, and General Manager, Candy Guo, hosted the event and invited guests to view the stunning new 64-bed care home.

Designed with residents’ comfort in mind, Lotus Manor Care Home will offer residential support, respite stays and specialist dementia care, all delivered by a dedicated and passionate team of trained professionals.

Take a look at some of our favourite moments from the event. ✨

11/09/2025

🚑 Celebrating Emergency Services Day 🚒👏

Residents, patients, colleagues and visitors marked this year’s Emergency Services Day in style, recognising the contribution of local emergency services, volunteers and heroes.

Our homes and hospitals hosted a variety of community events, from coffee mornings to afternoon garden parties, inviting emergency services personnel to join for hot drinks and delicious home-made cakes.

Everyone had a wonderful time, visiting local emergency services sites, engaging in conversations and sharing inspirational stories of emergency services heroes, both past and present.