Brave Charity worker takes plunge for vital funds

A daring employee of Ronald McDonald House Brighton dropped 13,000ft over the Wiltshire countryside on Friday 14 October to raise money for the Charity she has worked at for four years.

Sally Gabriel is House Manager at Ronald McDonald House Brighton, which provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation for families with children at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital – a specialist department for the care of premature and sick newborn babies.

Sally organised the skydive at Netheravon Airfield with four other dare devil fundraisers who hold the Charity close to their hearts, including two regular volunteers for the House – Rebecca Griffiths and Julie Hyland, the Deputy House Manager at the House, Martin Coatsworth, and a father, Luke Tate, who stayed at Ronald McDonald House Brighton with his partner for over three months when their daughter was at the Trevor Mann Baby Unit.

Together, the group have raised an impressive £3,200.

Sally, commenting on her first skydive, says: “The skydive was like nothing I’ve experienced before and I was left speechless after the jump, but I’d definitely do it again.

“This year one of our parents completed a skydive and raised money for our House, because they are, like us, passionate about keeping families close to their children when they are in hospital. Martin and I felt it was time to experience skydiving for ourselves and join our supporters in raising vital funds to keep families together.”

Ronald McDonald House Brighton is one of 14 Ronald McDonald Houses in the UK that provides free accommodation next to specialist children’s hospitals, allowing families to be a stone’s throw away from the children’s ward.

To find out more about Ronald McDonald House Charities and how to support the charity in other ways, visit: www.rmhc.org.uk

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Notes to editors:

1. Please make contact through the details above if you would like anything more.

2. Ronald McDonald House Brighton is run by Ronald McDonald House Charities – an independent charity that provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation at hospitals across the UK. It enables seriously ill children to have their families close by when they are undergoing treatment and allows them to maintain a degree of normal family life.

3. To date there are 14 Ronald McDonald Houses in the UK and in 2015 they helped support over 7,000 families with children in hospital.

4. The original Ronald McDonald House Brighton opened its doors to families in April of 1999 and was relocated to a new site in 2007. The new House has eight en-suite bedrooms, a lounge, a dining area, a kitchen, a laundry and a small patio garden. Ronald McDonald House Charities has also invested £300,000 to open a further 10 en-suite bedrooms on the top floor of the children’s hospital – meaning it can now offer 18 en-suite rooms to families in need

5. Ronald McDonald House Charities relies on the generosity of supporters and fundraisers, including McDonald’s customers, without whom it would be unable to continue its work.

6. The charity was founded in 1989 and has been keeping families together for more than 25 years.