Suffolk-based Farthing Funeral Service spreads festive cheer at Ipswich and Felixstowe care homes – with a mini Shetland pony

Aiming to do something uplifting and positive this Christmas, the team behind a Suffolk-based funeral directors have been spreading festive joy with their new unofficial mascot.

Farthing Funeral Services, which has care homes in Ipswich, Felixstowe and Debenham, near Stowmarket, has been surprising care home residents with visits from Gypsy Lady – a mini Shetland pony.

The animal, which is owned by Ronnie, the son of the funeral service’s operative Hayley Clarke, was decked out in a festive costume and was brought to put a smile on people’s faces.

Hayley and her co-workers brought Gypsy Lady with them to a range of residences, including Wisteria House, Westerfield Residential Care Home and Silver Birch Care Home in Ipswich as well as The First care home in Felixstowe.

Hayley said the team were delighted with how people responded to the visits.

She said: “We are always keen to support the community through events and visits, and at this time of year we really wanted to do something happy and cheerful.

“While there’s obviously a time and a place for our black suits and formality, we wanted this to be a really positive and uplifting experience so that people could see us in a slightly different light and thought the pony would be a great way to achieve that.

“I’m thrilled to say the reaction has been amazing – people have loved seeing her.

“We’ve had a couple of really touching moments too – including a man from a traveller background who saw her and said it brought back some wonderful memories, and another gentleman who the carers said hadn’t reacted to something so positively for a long time.”

Hayley said Gypsy Lady was the pony her son learned to ride on.

In addition to the visits, Farthing’s team donated Christmas trees and also made an appearance at a Christmas fayre hosted at St John the Baptist’s Church in Felixstowe.