Just imagine for one minute how you would feel if your child was seriously ill in hospital miles from your family home.How would you cope with the stress, anxiety and separation?
Helen Rees and Dave Crosthwaite are now hard at work training for the Rome Marathon on 20th March 2011 in order to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Oxford, which provides support to families while their children are in the Oxford Children’s Hospital. The charity ensures families have somewhere to stay close to their child and is available to them without cost.
Running 26.2 miles is going to be quite a challenge for couple of people who until this year hadn't run a single mile in over 25 years! Thank you in advance for your support - it means a lot to us, but more importantly, it means a lot more to Ronald McDonald House Oxford.
Please sponsor them at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Dave-and-Helen
All the money donated goes directly into improving the service and facilities provided for families.
Your donation means there is one less thing for parents to worry about and they can concentrate on their child’s care. As well as providing accommodation for families an important part of their role is to provide emotional support during their stay, offering practical advice, signposting to other organisations or to just be a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.
The House has 18 en-suite bedrooms, two kitchens, a laundry room and communal lounges. The accommodation is not only for parents, but for siblings and extended family and every bedroom has a telephone directly linked to the hospital ward. Since opening in January 2007 the House has been full to bursting with mums, dads and other family members of critically ill children. In total so far they have accommodated over 2000 families and their stays range from just a couple of days, to many months.
The development of the House was fully funded by RMHC – Ronald McDonald House Charities. Together with the RMH-Oxford management board the staff the staff at the House are responsible for raising the annual on-going running costs of £140,000.
Every time you think about having a meal at McDonald's why not donate the money to us instead? It's going to a great cause and if you could spare £10 per month (the price of a couple of Big Mac Meals) or a one-off payment of a little more then that would be brilliant.
Thanks for taking the time to visit our virginmoneygiving page. So please dig deep and donate now - and keep donating!