Thanks for taking the time to visit our sponsored  Jumpathon page. We're raising money for a special appeal at Ronald McDonald House Manchester.

Ronald McDonald House is an independent charity supporting families whilst their children are in hospital. The charity has houses throughout the UK, including a 64 bedroom House on the doorstep of Manchester Children’s Hospital. When a child is unlucky enough to need to stay in hospital, Houses provide accommodation for their families to ensure they can be close by and keeping families together.

The house offers so much more than just a room to sleep in. Fully equipped kitchens and communal areas allow families some degree of normality, away from hospital canteens. There are playrooms, fun activities, parties and other children’s facilities for siblings, friends and the children themselves when they are able to get a break from their treatment.

Many of you reading this will know that the House is somewhere which means a great deal to us. We stayed there in 2013 when our beautiful Lukas was ill. The place was a bright light during that time. With Violet as a small baby, we could be together as a family of four and have our wider family close by throughout the days.

When Lukas lost his brave fight, we were able to raise enough funds for the House to sponsor a room in his memory. Over 4 years later, his name is still outside that bedroom - appropriately named “The Railway” for our train obsessed angel. Through Team Lukas’ amazing efforts and the wonderful support of lots of very special people, in the region of £50,000 has been raised and we know that the room is secured for Lukas for many years to come. 

For that reason, we are moving our focus towards another great cause at the Manchester House.
The #SteveBurneRooms is an appeal to convert space in the house into 3 large family areas with private kitchens, separate living space and an additional bedroom. This will provide a great facility for those with extended stays or larger families. The rooms are being named in honour of the driving force behind the plans, the chair of the board of governors, Steve Burne.

Steve isn’t someone who has had to use the House. He is though, someone who has been involved with the charity for a number of years. Steve cares passionately about keeping families together. As an architect who has designed and had deep involvement with many of the Houses, he has been chair of Governors for Manchester for a number of years and he continues to be a driving force within the organisation. He has been involved in countless fundraising efforts, always present at House events and parties acting as a real ambassador for Manchester and the wider charity. Above all else, Steve has forged strong relationships with families, such as ours, either current or those who no longer need the house. Steve is a man who not only embodies but also defines the whole ethos of what is a wonderful organisation.

You can read more about Steve’s story on the overall team page. Sadly, Steve received a diagnosis of cancer last year in his shoulder. This has since spread and become terminal, he is strong and brave although he knows that he doesn’t have long left. To help more families and children like Lukas, we desperately want to help raise the £250,000 needed to make the #SteveBurneRooms a reality. Moreover, we want to help ensure that Steve gets to see the reality of his legacy.

We are planning a “Sponsored Jumpathon” at Airvault Trampoline Park in Westhoughton on Saturday 24th February. There will be 75 children causing chaos and having a manic 90 minutes of disco fun on the trampolines! Please help keep families together and donate what you can for the kids. It really is all in aid of such a wonderful and worthy cause….

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.