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For over 15 years Ronald McDonald House Charities has been and continues to be, the leading provider of accommodation for families with children in hospital and hospices around the UK. The need for the type of accommodation provided by RMHC is huge. We want to be able to help every family who needs somewhere close to stay whilst their child is being treated in hospital.
We provide accommodation with family bedrooms, communal living and dining areas that are either a freestanding house or embedded rooms, depending on the need and the available space. By providing a home away from home environment it enables families to try and continue to live as normal a life as possible while their child is receiving the best in medical care, which may often require travelling many miles from home.
We have so far invested over £10m into helping to provide accommodation alongside 35 hospitals and hospices throughout the UK. The service we provide is free of charge and we have over 280 bedrooms a night for families to stay in. But there are more families that need our help and we have over £9 million committed to develop 16 projects and are actively trying to identify another 10 sites where we may be able to help.
There are many examples throughout the Department of Health's National Service Framework for children, Standard for Hospital Services that are compatible with our ethos for the provision of accommodation as a means of supporting the family, however paragraph 5.2 specifically states that "Facilities should also cater for parents and siblings, with suitable provision for overnight stay. These must include access to meals and relaxation and must respect parents' privacy."
Perhaps you can helps us in identifying additional hospital sites that may be undergoing improvement or redevelopment work that we could add to, or hospitals where you feel there may simply be a need for the type of accommodation we are able to provide. If so get in touch with us even if these projects are at the early stage, as we can often help with the planning of these facilities if we have the opportunity to be involved early enough.
Our Head of Project Development Anne Roberts would love to hear from you. Click here to contact Anne directly or telephone 0844 840 0844.
Telephone 0844 840 0844 | Charity Reg. No. 802047 | © RMHC 2008
