This month, Steph Freeborough, House Assistant at Ronald McDonald House in Tooting tells us how they’ll be celebrating Halloween! 

‘Celebrating’ means to mark an occasion or moment in a significant way, and by celebrating, we give ourselves the chance to break from the norm – permission to have fun or give ourselves something to look forward to.

When your child is in hospital, it’s hard to allow yourself that pleasure, but Ronald McDonald House Charities always work to provide families with as close to a normal family life as possible.

So, what better way to have some fun than with a spooktacular Halloween party! Our families, old and new, are coming together to celebrate with pumpkins, dress up and most importantly – a few treats!

Across our Houses in the UK, we provide social events that ensure families have the opportunity to spend time together away from the ward and gives much needed fun to siblings – siblings who might not understand what’s happening to their brother or sister.  

This year, our Tooting House are very excited to work directly with the Children’s Play Team at St George’s Hospital! Together, we’ve organised a day of games suitable for everyone, including bobbing for doughnuts, a haunted house hunt, and wrapping your Mummy! Children will also get the chance to express their creative side with arts and crafts, giving our families the chance to catch up with each other.

Thanks to the great partnership we have with the hospital, we are able to extend our invitation to all the children and their families staying on the wards we support at St George’s Hospital. Being able to leave the ward and come to a warm, relaxed and homely environment is a unique opportunity that some of the children may not have experienced, especially those who have been staying in hospital for a long, long time.

To continue providing these services, our Charity relies upon the generous donations and volunteer power of our supporters and local businesses. This year, the Play Team and our regular volunteers have kindly donated their time to make Halloween special for our families. A huge thanks to them and to Tesco’s Express Clapham South who are donating treats (not tricks) for the party.

We’re always looking for people who can help us throw these amazing events, so if you think you can spare some time for our families please get in touch.

Last month, we held our annual Hike4Houses sponsored walk! Read about it here.

You can find out more about Ronald McDonald House Tooting on their website and follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.