Ronald Mcdonald House Southampton

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! We announced last week that we have been lucky enough to be chosen as Charity of the year in two local Sainsbury’s shops. This means that we will get the amazing opportunity to go into the shops to collect donations and raise critical awareness for Ronald McDonald House Charities. To be able to make the most of this, we need volunteers who will help us out on these days to represent our Charity. If you are interested please get in touch!

Sunday evening was our Pamper Night and a what a fantastic night it was. We would like to say a huge thank you to our amazing volunteers Teegan, Claire, Emma and Demi for providing much needed beauty and relaxation treatments to many of our parents. Everybody who attended had a wonderful night and thoroughly enjoyed their treatments. Thank you once again for providing our families with a much appreciated night of TLC

We have had plenty of events going on in the Southampton House in the past couple of weeks, including a Fun Day and a Cake and Crafts session! Thank you to House Assistant Michelle for organising the fun day and to our amazing volunteers Sally and Alisha for coming to run the Cake and Crafts! House events like this are so important as they mean that all our families can spend some time together and have fun away from the hospital. We can’t wait for the next event!

Last year, Amy Judge and her family walked 14 miles for the charity on our Hike 4 Houses sponsored walk. ‘Steven, myself and Noah choose to take on the 14 mile challenge last year because we wanted to give something back to the charity which supported us during such a difficult time. Every step we took and penny raised was us giving back so they can continue to support families like ours. Noah was born 16 weeks early and was very poorly. If it wasn’t for them offering us a room, then we wouldn’t have been able to be with Noah in hospital each day - without it I really don’t know what we would’ve done.’ Join us at Hike 4 Houses this September. Register here: www.rmhc.org.uk/hike4houses

Last week we had an amazing visit from Francesca and Joshua. They stayed in the Southampton House numerous times with their little boy, Elih. Since leaving the House, they have set up a new business called ‘Elih’s Cupcakes’ in memory of him.
They donated a fantastic Kinder Cake, which looked and tasted delicious.
Thank you so much, the families in the House really enjoyed the cake!

Do you have what it takes to be a 2018 Whole Hogger? Our Southern Whole Hog is at a new venue this year in Malmesbury, Wiltshire on 2 September. The Whole Hog is a 10km adventure course that you can take part in as either a team or individual to race for victory, or just to have some fun. Whatever you choose, the money you raise will help us to continue supporting families with children in hospital. To find out more and sign up, just click here https://bit.ly/2MLJmRX

We have an exciting announcement!
You may remember a while ago that we were contenders for Local Charity of the Year in some Sainsbury’s stores near us. Well, thanks to your votes and support, we are pleased to announce that Ronald McDonald House Charities has been chosen as Local Charity of the Year in two of the stores, Lordshill and Bedford Place!
Thank you all so much for helping us get there!

Join in the fun and take part in Hike 4 Houses, a sponsored walk on Sunday 23 September visiting three of our London Ronald McDonald Houses. With two routes to choose from, it’s a great event for all the family while raising money to help Ronald McDonald House Charities support families with children in hospital. For more information about the walk, and to sign up, click here: www.rmhc.org.uk/hike4houses

Last week we had a lovely visit from Patrick, who came to unveil his room sponsorship plaque. Back in May Patrick, and his company Eventuous, held a Bond Ball on behalf of our charity and raised £6,000, meaning he can sponsor a room of his choice for a year. Patrick chose to sponsor Queen Elizabeth and he was overcome with emotion at the unveiling.
It was amazing to be able to honour Patrick and show our appreciation of the monies raised from his event by having the room plaque. Thank you Patrick and everyone at Eventuous.

When Jasmine suffered a major stroke at birth, she was rushed from her local hospital to be put on life support at Southampton Hospital. Here she spent five days in the paediatric intensive care unit and a further three in the neurology ward. During this time, her mum and dad were able to stay close to her at Ronald McDonald House Southampton. Mum, Becky, wrote a blog post on our website all about their journey and how the House helped them feel at home. Read it here https://bit.ly/2JXIRly

We were very lucky to have a lovely visit from staff from Ronald McDonald House Charities in Russia last week! It was great to meet them and show them around our House, and interesting to hear what the Charity is like over there.

Congratulations to our amazing volunteer Abdullah, who recently hit 50 hours of volunteering which he achieved in just over two months. Abdullah has been invaluable to our House and families, helping out with everything from making waffles on Wednesdays to assisting the fundraising team out in the community. He even threw a party in the House with his family and friends which was a great success.
If volunteering for Ronald McDonald House Charities is something you are interested in or would like to know more about, just let us know - we would love to hear from you!

Here is our House manager, Sarah-Jayne, with Jim and Chris, who very kindly donated a football table to the House! They knew about the Charity as Chris and his family stayed with us last December, and thought that this would be a great addition to our games room. We know our families will love it - thank you both!

We ran a raffle in the House last month where you could buy tickets to be in with a chance of winning an amazing George Best montage, kindly donated by Eventuous following the Bond Dinner they held on our behalf. Congratulations to our lucky winner, Gary!
Thank you to everyone that took part - the raffle raised just over £100, which could help a family stay close to their child in hospital for four nights.

Recently our House Assistant Billy was able to say thank you personally to Daniel and his team at the Eastleigh Swan Centre for raising an amazing £510 from their One Great Day event held back in June! Billy was lucky enough to be invited to attend on the day and activities included face painting, tombola and a hook-a-duck. One Great Day is an initiative set up by Great Ormond Street, however we were fortunate to be selected as the Swan Centre’s chosen local charity and to receive 50% of the proceeds. This is the third straight year that we have been selected as the local charity and so, from the bottom of our hearts we would like to say an enormous thank you to Daniel and the team!

Last Friday we had Adie Twining and his wonderful McDonald’s team prepare a feast for our families. They spent many hours slaving away in some very warm kitchens to treat our families to delicious chilli, quesadillas, vegetable lasagne, and Mac & Cheese, as well as plenty of sides and puddings. This made sure that our families could have a relaxed evening where the food was fully prepared and waiting for them so they could have a night off cooking. A huge thank you to the team for all their hard work!

Yesterday we had a lovely visit from Sharon and her colleagues at The Highfield Company, who presented us with £1,000!
Sharon has a personal connection to the Charity since she used the communal rooms at the Southampton House whilst her little boy, Hunter, was in hospital.
Her company ran an incentive where if an employee hit their sales target they were able to choose a charity to donate £1,000 to. Sharon amazingly chose us and we cannot thank them all enough!

Mum Donna wanted to take on a challenge for our Charity after staying with us in Southampton and Birmingham to be close to baby girl, Beau.
She said, “We spent a total of just over 12 weeks in hospital with our baby girl and whilst we have so many people to thank for Beau being with us today and doing so well, our journey was made that little more bearable by the charity that is ‘Ronald McDonald House Charities.” Later this month Donna and her friends will walk 50km along the Jurassic Coast to raise money for our Charity, and we couldn’t be more grateful.
You can read more of Donna’s story, or support the challenge, here: https://bit.ly/2m2IpsI

Here is our very own House Assistant, Billy, hanging his disc up on our Giving Tree after raising over £500 in sponsorships for taking part in the ABP Half Marathon.
After long and careful consideration, he decided to go with the name ‘King Kerr’ (Billy Kerr) and managed to find a spot right at the top of the tree!

When our daughter was sick we spent a few weeks in Southampton and then lots of trips back forth. It was a home away from home. To no you had a base, some where to go that for us didn’t cost loads as we are from Guernsey. The staff were all so Kind and the place was always clean. I don’t no what we would of done if my husband couldn’t stay there �

What an amazing place it kept us close to our baby for 8 weeks after a life changing operation at 36 hrs old the staff are very friendly helpful and good just to have a chat with thank you so much Ian Emily and hope

What a fantastic place with fantastic staff who are compassionate, friendly and very kind! We stayed for 9 days and we're very comfortable and grateful to be so close to our boy whilst he was in hospital. Everything was so accessible and took away the stress if having to find somewhere to stay or driving back and forth, allowing us to concentrate on our boy. Thank you.

We stayed in the house in2016 and like many people didn't know they even existed. The staff were amazing and seemed to be there at the right moment but giving us space while our son was in surgery all day then going to PICU. Thanks to the wonderful staff at the hospital he is doing brilliantly, but we continue to support the house with a monthly donation. We need more people to support it, so that when you are going through probably the most difficult period, there is somewhere for you. Thankyou Ronald McDonald house.

We stayed in the Ronald Mc Donald house when our youngest daughter became very poorly last year. It was such a god send to be able to take turns staying with our children so close to the hospital as we were flown over from Guernsey. It made the whole emergency experience a lot easier for us all. Thank you!

This place rocks!! Couldn't have kept my family together with out this amazing place. Facilities and staff are amazing! Particularly grateful for there generosity over the Christmas period. Thank you x

These guys are such a great help, would definitely recommend staying here if they have accommodation available.



It's really great to have use of a proper kitchen and day room facility, vending machine has drinks for a £1 which is much cheaper than in the hospital.



M&S also donate some close to sell by date stuff after they close each night.



Made our daughters hospital stay so much easier to manage.



We will definitely be donating.

Thank you for providing an amazing place for my family to stay, and a home away from home for my sister so she can be close to her baby girl. I couldn’t praise you enough if I tried. Wonderful �

Stayed here a few times now absolutely amazing place helps keep mummy and daddy's close to there children in difficult times can not thank the staff enough for all they do x

So thankful for this organisation. My partner and son were able to stay here while I was in Southampton hospital Ocean ward with my youngest. Thanks to the house they were so close to us both as we live 40 mins away, which made us feel so much more comforted. They were able to cook and do their washing and said it felt like a big friendly home. I hope to do some fundraising for this place in the future.�

Our Son was rushed to Southampton Hospital by Ambulance & we were not prepared for a 4 week hospital stay so when we were offered a room at Ronald McDonald House we couldn't believe in our hour of need we were suported. it's an amazing place that caters for all your needs, a quiet comfy bed & well needed shower, a fully equipped kitchen, spotlessly clean & the staff kind & considerate & on hand 24 hrs, a place to escape the hospital but so close you could be with your loved ones in minutes. I can't rave about it enough. You never know when you may need a place like this so don't forget it if you'd like to donate anything a very worthy cause.

Thank you all at Ronald McDonald House x

Not many people know about Ronald MacDonald houses. It's only when you need them do you really realise a) they exist and

b) what fantastic places they are, run by wonderful people. I stayed back in May to help look after my niece when her brother was very poorly in picu. The facilities are endless and every need is catered for at little or no cost. We have since sent donations to help others and will be sending more in the future.

Managed to get a room for my sister whilst my son having heart surgery just could not believe the amaziness of this place, truly an absoloute gem , it was snowing so it was an absoloute life saver coming from the isle of Wight! more than happy, thank you, keep doing what you are doing will be spreading the word & pointing people in the direction of the wishlist! Fab fab fab x

Lovely place help me and hubby out when our girl had open heart surgery in 2015

Incredible. Not only is it immaculate and comfortable, the staff are so caring and really understanding. We are so thankful for this place, we wouldn’t be able to be near our boy throughout his care otherwise. Takes away so much stress.

Firstly, the staff are fantastically helpful - they understand what the families are going through & are a credit to the charity. The building itself is a modern "travelodge/premier inn" type with fully fitted communal kitchens,lounges & laundrettes on each floor .Each family has en-suite facilities & they also allow siblings/parents/relatives to stay. As it's on the hospital site , it is only a stones throw away from the wards. Quite why McDonalds restaurants do not do more to promote this excellent charity is difficult to understand - especially as it is mostly funded by their customers. If you stay here, then it's understandable that your son/daughter maybe needing care/surgery in the hospital & you need to have a place to recharge your batteries, get some sleep & feed yourself - RMH will provide this - whether for a day,week or longer. It will also hopefully make you want to keep raising for this charity when you leave.

Can’t thank everyone enough for making this a home from home at the toughest time of our lives. So relieved to find something like this available and the staff are a credit to the charity xx

Amazing!

Made the first 2 weeks of our sons life a lot easier not having to travel and knowing we were within walking distance of him.

Also being able to have our 2 other children stay with us made it slightly better. Not feeling we needed to cut ourselves in 2 as we could all be together.



Thank you all so much for all you do.



Xxx

After the birth of my son in oxford he had to be kept in intensive care as his heart was poorly.. the doctors there told us we would have to go to Southampton E1 ocean ward ( who was amazing ) to have open heart surgery, at this time me and my partner had spent a week at oxford hospital and didn't have a lot of money left in the bank. When we was accepted to stay at this amazing place we was so happy.. we didn't stay as long as other families have to but our stay was something that really touched us. The whole atmosphere of the place and the staff was beyond perfect and I can't thank you enough.

Jason Stacey and baby Scott who is now healthy and I wish the best to others who have to stay there. X