Home > About Us > Our charities > Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald House Charities keeps families together so children in hospital can get the love and comfort they need. The charity provides ‘home away from home’ accommodation for families with children in hospital; somewhere free to stay for as long as they need to.

The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities is to ensure there are sufficient funds and expertise to develop and sustain free accommodation at specialist children’s hospital in the UK.

The House at St George’s Hospital is one of 14 across the UK. Many families travel miles from home so that their child can receive expert medical care and many have to remain in hospital for months at a time. Without our local Ronald McDonald House, parents would have to sleep on a chair by their child’s bed, or pay vast sums of money for hotel accommodation.

The Ronald McDonald House has eight en suite bedrooms, a kitchen, children’s playroom, lounge, laundry facilities and a garden. They look after 200 families each year whilst their children are being cared for at St George’s Hospital.

As an independent charity, the charity relies on the support and generosity of families, volunteers and donors. It is because of fundraising efforts that they are able to look after families with children in hospital.

There have been a number of fundraisers in aid of Ronald McDonald House Charities this year, including:

  • 70 members of staff from local McDonald’s restaurants played in a five-a-side football tournament and raised £1450 for the Tooting House in September
  • In December, the Tooting House held its annual raffle where families, supporters and staff gathered to draw the winners. Major donor Kalpesh Patel donated a cheque for £20,000 for the House.
  • The Prime Minister’s wife, Samantha Cameron, hosted a reception at Downing Street in February in recognition of the work of Ronald McDonald House Charities across the UK. St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Miles Scott attended, along with other selected healthcare professionals, MPs and supporters.