Ronald McDonald House
Manchester

House fact file

About the House:

RMHC has secured planning permission to build a vitally needed centre for families with sick children at the new Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to open in January 2012. The Ronald McDonald House will provide free 'home away from home' accommodation for families of children being treated at the hospital for as long as the families need it.

Many families have to travel to Manchester from across North West, the UK and even from around the world so that their children can receive specialist treatment at the Children's hospital.

The new House will enable up to 240 people to stay at any one time and be close to their children in hospital.  The new Ronald McDonald House will be made up of five floors. As well as the 60-ensuite bedrooms there will be communal lounges, kitchens, dining areas, playrooms, laundry facilities, a teenager room and a quiet room.

The House will also open its doors to families coming to the hospital for day care, for example those whose children are receiving chemotherapy or renal dialysis.

The project is costing £8.3 million to build and whilst RMHC is well on the way to securing funds for the build process, the Charity will be calling on local businesses and residents across the North West to help raise vital funds to fit out the House interior and meet ongoing running costs.

The House will support families from the whole of the North West, from as far as Cumbria down to Stoke and across to North Wales.

Number of rooms:60

Opening date: The House is scheduled to open in January 2012

About the hospital:

The new Royal Manchester Children's Hospital provides specialist healthcare services for children and young people throughout the North West, as well as nationally and internationally. The new hospital will see over 140,000 patient visits each year across a range of specialties including oncology, haematology, bone marrow transplant, burns, genetics, and orthopaedics.

The Hospital opened on Thursday 11th June 2009. It has been designed so that all departments are close to the equipment and support that they need. This means patients and staff won't have to travel far within the hospital. It also has some purpose-built accommodation* with en-suite rooms for carers and families.

*With 371 beds it is the largest single-site children's hospital in the UK (but whilst the hospital has designed some accommodation for parents and families of sick children, the new Ronald McDonald House will add 240 beds to this capacity, helping long term stay families to be near their sick children as well as enabling families with children in day care to reduce their burden of travel).

An image of how the House will look