Ronald McDonald House Charities UK provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation to families with children having treatment in hospital.

Our Houses offer much more than just a place to stay; they provide family activities, peer support, respite, and many other services. This means that families can be by their child’s bedside in a matter of moments, whilst maintaining a degree of normal life with reduced emotional and financial strain.

We help over 6,000 families each year and now, more than ever, we need your support. Thank you.

I didn't really know much about the Ronald Mcdonald Charity until our life got turned upside down shortly after Harlan was born on the 13/08/2019, he was very poorly and got transferred from Salisbury where we were living at the time during an Army Posting to Southampton Nicu department.

Harlan's health was deteriating quite badly due to PPHN (Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn), at 2 days old the consultants decided to put Harlan on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), it's used for life-threatening heart and lung conditions.

This was such a scary time for us, we had Brandon who was just under 3 having to go to Plymouth to stay with my Parents whilst Harlan was in a very unstable state. In the beginning Dave and I were staying in a room opposite the PICU ward whilst Harlan was on the ECMO machine so we were close by whilst it was touch and go.

Luckily our little Hero Harlan but up an almighty fight and came off ECMO , and a few days later managed to come off the Ventilator too.

Once things were more stable we moved from the Hospital to the Ronald Mcdonald House which was just a short walk to PICU and NICU, we then felt it was best to be reunited with Brandon so we could get some normality back whilst Harlan was still in the Intensive care unit.

This was a very welcoming Home from home, we had our own ensuite bedroom with 4 single beds, there was a living room space, with play areas, kitchens and washing facilities. This only cost £25 as a deposit which could be refunded if people wished.

We were here for 4 weeks and we will never forget the kindness of all the staff and families that we met during our time here.

Whenever we go to Mcdonalds now we always dontate because we know what a wonderful charity it is. We like to share our story and educate people about the charity.

Dave, Mathew(Dave's Brother) and I are going to run the Plymouth Half Marathon on Sunday11/05/2025 and would love to raise money for this charity so close to our hearts.