Mac House does not take direct bookings for our rooms. All referrals are made by the hospital, so please speak to the ward staff.

There is no charge to families for our rooms. We do ask that you pay a £30 room deposit, which is refundable on leaving the Ronald McDonald House. Many families who stay with us choose to donate their deposit to the charity, covering the cost of the room for the next family. This helps us to help more families.

If you need a room in a Ronald McDonald House, you must ask the hospital staff to refer you to us. Once your child has been admitted to hospital, the nurse on the ward will complete a referral form which is then sent to us. The staff at the House will allocate rooms and contact you on the ward when one is available.

As the occupancy in Mac House is very high we must prioritise families who are on our waiting list. We do this in consultation with the hospital and use certain criteria which helps with the final allocation of the rooms available. We will strive to accomodate all families who need us.

This is where together we fill out your registration form, talk about what the house provides and discuss some guidelines. This is followed by a tour of the house and afterwards you will be shown to your room.

We are open 365 days a year and are equipped with everything you would find in a family home. Families can get a good night’s sleep, prepare their own meals and feel at home, knowing that they’re just minutes away from their child in hospital. Mac House has 84 bedrooms. We also have laundry facilities, kitchens, lounges, play areas and the garden. In our kitchens we provide everything you need to cook a meal - ovens, utensils, pots, pans, knives, forks etc, all you need to bring is the food and decide what you would like to cook. Each family are allocated their own fridge/freezer and dry storage space to store their food. We also have a food delivery once a week, and families are welcome to take what they need. Food is complimentary and will be left in both shared kitchens. Our 84 en suite bedrooms can accommodate up to four people on two single and two pull out beds. Bedding is provided by the House.  There is a phone, internal use only, so the ward can ring you and you can ring them any time of day or night. Within our 15 longer-stay apartments, the facilities are different but the detail will be discussed with those allocated to this area of the house at the appropriate time. Washers and dryers may be used at a small charge. Tokens need to be purchased at reception where we will also give you soap powder. An ironing board and iron can also be found here. Around the house we have several lounges where you can watch television, or use the free wifi which is available throughout the house.

The one thing all of our families have in common is that they have a sick child over at Alder Hey hospital. We want your stay here to be as comfortable as possible and many families use the house as a quiet haven from the stress of the hospital. It is important that the atmosphere in the house is as calm as possible and we ask for your co-operation and sensitivity towards others. While you are staying here we do have some rules, and we will go through these in more detail when you check in. The main rules that we stipulate are that there is no smoking, no alcohol or drugs allowed on the premises.

Families can stay for as long as they need to, if their child is an inpatient at the hospital. We do a 30-day review on our families which allows us to update your requirements and or changes in circumstances. Our average night’s stay is around 17 days, but we have some families who stay for longer.

Yes of course, but we stipulate is that children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. We have family support workers who do activities during the week with the siblings staying with us.

We understand that you will need to go home from time to time, especially if you have been with us a while. Please inform reception of your intention to go home, leave your keys with us and collect once you return. This is important for the health & safety and fire evacuation procedures, as we must have accurate information about who is staying with us. You may go home for 2 days, without us needing to consider reallocating your room, please just keep us informed.

As the house is family orientated we do expected you to keep your rooms tidy throughout your stay. Cleaning buckets and the hoover can be obtained from the main office to allow you to keep them clean. Families are also expected to clear up after themselves when using the communal areas.

Each Tuesday we will prepare a free meal for you, which will be ready around 6pm. Please ask at reception for the menu on the day.

The garden can be used from 8am until 9pm, 7 days a week. There is no smoking in this area but you will be able to relax, eat your dinner there, or simply watch your children play on the climbing frame, but they must be supervised.

Mac House does not have any parking facilities, you can park your car in the main car park of the hospital. This is chargeable and will cost you £4.00 per visit. Any issues with  parking need to be taken up with the Hospital, Ronald McDonald House are not responsible. Please do not park your car on the yellow lines outside Mac House, as tickets will be issued.

In September 2015, the new Alder Hey Hospital opened, this is now a short 5 minute or so walk away from the House. If you walk through the old hospital buildings opposite, you will see the new hospital straight in front of you. Carry on and you come to the entrance next to A&E which also gets you to the Wards.

Yes. The office is open from 8am until 10pm Monday to Friday. Access after this time is by using the door code, in the interests of security please do not give this code to anybody else.  On Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays the office is open from 9am to 5pm.  There is a safety / fire warden in the building during the night.

We welcome a limited number of visitors, please make sure that they sign the visitors book and leave by 9pm. Please try not to have large numbers of visitors at one time as this impacts upon other families.

We have a dedicated team of staff who are here seven days per week. Our office is open Monday – Friday between 8am – 7pm and during the weekends 9am – 5pm. A member of our team is available in and around the reception area 7pm to 10 pm Monday to Friday.  Outside of these hours, we have a fire warden to look after the house. We are here to help you and if we are unable to answer any questions you have, we will always point you in the right direction to get this information.

Only the prime carer of the child, and the carer’s immediate family may occupy a room, most of our rooms sleep a maximum of four people. We unfortunately cannot accommodate anybody from your extended family. We will never allocate more than one room per family, and once a room is allocated we can not move you to another room.

Yes, we have a day centre, where families can relax, have a cuppa, watch television, a play area for children and cloakroom facilities. This room is open from 8am – 9pm daily. Call us on 0151 252 5869 to discuss.

Helping families who are staying with us is always a high priority. If you need assistance, for example, if the fire alarms are activated, or you have a sensory impairment that makes it difficult for you to hear or respond to a fire alarm situation, please make this aware to a member of staff during your check in. For disabled persons with mobility impairments we have a number of bedrooms which have specially equipped wet room bathrooms – these rooms will offer many of our disabled family members some very helpful adaptations but the rooms are not equipped to be universally accessible, which for instance means that there is no overhead hoisting available, or electric rise and fall beds. The beds in our accessible rooms are of the type that may be compatible with a mobile hoist but as each persons requirements for hoisting are different, and there is limited “transfer” room, you should initially assume that hoisting will not be available, but there may be options so we will talk to you about your needs. Access around Mac House for a wheelchair user for instance is generally quite reasonable with flat or ramped access in most places with only a couple of areas inaccessible due to steps, but there are easily accessed alternatives. Our doors, including fire doors, can be awkward for some family members with a mobility impairment to use independently, but they are manageable and we will discuss any concerns with you during your check-in. There are two accessible toilets in the family areas on the ground floor with rails and grab handles but only front or one side transfer space.  

Yes, if your child is being treated in an NHS hospital you can be referred to stay in a House.

Yes, each visit is treated in the same way as if it was your first time. The referral for accommodation is the same, the ward can be asked to put a referral through to us once you have been admitted to the ward.

Once your child is discharged from the hospital, we request that you return your keys and vacate your room the same day. Please inform us as soon as possible, so we can prepare the room for the next family.  

As we rely solely on public donations to allow us to provide this excellent service and with our running cost of £700,000 per year we would welcome your support. Fundraising packs are available at reception and any member of staff will be pleased to talk to you about your ideas. We have a fundraising office and the fundraising team would be more than willing to help and support you, if needed, with your fundraising ideas.

Yes we are an independent charity raising our own funds through the generosity of everyone who supports us.

McDonalds was fundamental in the setting up of Ronald McDonald House 25 years ago and crucially provided some of the funding to do this. At that time Ronald McDonald House Charities was not active in the UK, therefore Mac House was set up independently of this Charity. Ronald McDonald House Charities hold the license which allows us to be recognised as a Ronald McDonald House, and to use this name. Whilst not directly funded by McDonalds, as a corporate charity partner, McDonalds locally helps to support the charity in a variety of ways.  Local McDonalds restaurants, as well as fundraising for the national Ronald McDonald House Charities, also do some fundraising for us, and we are also lucky to have McDonald representatives on our board of trustees, who do a great job of governing & supporting the charity.

Alder Hey Hospital, alongside McDonalds Restaurant, funded the original setup of Ronald McDonald House, and we are immensely proud that to this day our Charity still includes ‘Alder Hey’ in our name. They continue to help support the house in a variety of ways, for example they pay for some of our utility bills. Alongside McDonalds and Ronald McDonald House charities, Alder Hey is a great partner to Ronald McDonald House, and in return Mac House plays a genuinely important role in offering the families of often very sick children a way to stay together and contribute to their child’s recovery. Mac House sits in the grounds of the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and this incredible world class facility makes such a difference for children, every day, every week, every month, all year round and playing our part in that care and support is a privilege. It remains the case that the help we do get from being associated with all three of these amazing organisations is wonderful, but we still must strive to raise the vast majority of the £700,000 it costs to keep our doors open for well over 2,000 families every year. It’s a tough ask and we can only do it thanks to all our friends and supporters, individuals, families, groups/associations and our corporate / business supporters.

We have items for sale on our reception desk, and also within our online e-shop. Have a browse! https://ronaldmcdonaldhouseliverpool.org.uk/shop/

Obviously, your focus will be to look after your poorly child. Mac House always needs little jobs doing, tidying the garden, helping to prepare our family meal each Tuesday, as well as  general duties within the House. If you are willing to help out during your stay, we always welcome an extra pair of hands.

We are happy for you to use our logo, but please discuss with the fundraising team first, so we can get the right images for you to use. We can also discuss the use of other promotional materials with you. Just call the fundraising team on 0151 252 5869 or email us.

You can visit our Reception area during your stay and they will be delighted to accept your donation and issue a receipt. If you wanted to make a donation during your stay but didn’t have time and have now left the House, please get in touch with the Fundraising Team on 0151 252 5869 or email us. You can of course also use our JustGiving.com page which can be found here :

The Mac House JustGiving.com page

 

We would love to keep you in touch with everything going on at Mac House. Please email your contact details to enquiries@rmhliverpool.org.uk and let us know how we can help.