How it can help me

At Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, we believe that sick children need their families close.

We work closely with our NHS hospital partners to support family centred care by giving families a place to stay, moments away from their child’s ward.

We saved each family £1,660
in out-of-pocket accommodation and meal expenses in 2018

Family-Centred Care

Being close means parents can play an active role in their child’s care and recovery throughout their time in hospital. They can be involved in their child’s care and fulfil fundamental roles such as feeding their baby or supporting their child emotionally.

Family life

Kitchens and communal areas mean families are able to preserve a sense of normality and routine for the rest of the family by spending time with and cooking for their other children.

Peer support

As well as providing a place for families to cook and relax, communal areas in our Houses provide an important meeting space for parents to talk to each other. Peer to peer support is so important and parents in our Houses can feel supported by other families sharing the same experiences.

Reducing financial strain

Our accommodation is provided free of charge and for as long as families need it. According to a report by BLISS, families with a sick baby in hospital can face unexpected extra expenses of up to £2,000 per hospital visit. We help parents to stay as close as possible to the children’s ward, greatly reducing the anxiety of travel and hotel accommodation costs.

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What is Family Centred Care?

A hundred years ago, children’s wards didn’t allow any visitors at all. Young patients would face the trauma of being separated from their parents for long periods of time. Then, psychologists began to connect hospitalisation as a child to issues in adulthood. Discover our comic tracing the history of family centred care.

Read the comic

I cried tears of relief and joy when I first saw the House. I had been so anxious about what was going to happen and how we were going to cope. We live 45 minutes away from the hospital and the thought of being far from Rosie or needing to be in two places at the same time was upsetting. Being able to stay at the House was a huge relief and it was breath-taking to realise the level of generosity given to help families like ours.

Helen, mum