• Ronald McDonald House Charities® New Zealand (RMHC®), through its House and Family Room programs, provides accommodation and support services to families who must travel away from their home to receive specialist medical treatment, or who have a child in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), or other specialist paediatric High Dependency Unit (HDU). RMHC NZ enables family centred medical care by ensuring families can remain together, close by the partnering hospital.  
• Eligible families can stay with us when their child (under the age of 18) is required to attend a consultation as an outpatient, as well as when they are in-patients receiving treatment and/or surgery. 
• A family is best described as the primary caregivers (parents, stepparents, grandparents and foster parents) of patients and their siblings (brothers or sisters and half brothers or sisters). 
• If a child other than those we have described usually lives with you as a permanent member of the household, we may (depending on occupancy at the time) be able to accommodate them with you. Please ask if you need our help with this. 

• Families of children (under the age of 18) are referred to us through their doctor, district health board or social worker.
• In order to stay at Ronald McDonald House^® while your child (under the age of 18) is having treatment in Christchurch, we would need to receive a referral (booking) for you from your District Health Board’s National Travel Assistance office.
• If you are needing to travel away from home for your child’s treatment in Christchurch, and your travel distance is more than 100km one way, you should be eligible for National Travel Assistance provided by the Ministry of Health.
• National Travel Assistance covers the cost of your travel to Christchurch and home again, as well as a subsidy for accommodation with us. (The balance of accommodation costs are generously donated by the supporters of Ronald McDonald House Charities^® New Zealand.)
• Here’s a link to see the Ministry of Health eligibility criteria for National Travel Assistance.

• Visitors are welcome between the hours of 8am and 10:30pm. However, we are unable to accommodate additional visitors on family dinner nights, as it makes it difficult for our volunteers to accurately plan meals.  

• Our Family Dinner Programme has groups cooking dinner almost every night of the week, ensuring families get a good home-cooked meal at the end of each day. We also have fully stocked kitchens should families want to cook their own meals. 

Ronald McDonald House Christchurch provides families with:

• Fully equipped communal kitchens with pantry, refrigerator and freezer food items
• Ensuite bedrooms
• Bed and bath linen
• Laundry facilities
• Wi-Fi
• Quite Adult’s Lounge
• Teenager’s Activity Room
• Children’s Art Room
• Co-working space
• Car parking
• Disability access
• Indoor and outdoor play areas
• Prams, port-a-cots, bassinets , children’s car seats

Every room in the House has a phone. Your friends and family can call you directly on this. Your phone extension will be given to you on arrival.

Please ask your family and friends to send mail for your attention to:

c/- Ronald McDonald House Christchurch
33 Cashel Street
Christchurch, 8013

You will only need to bring your personal items such as toiletries, clothing, communication devices etc.

Our Family Dinner Programme runs most evenings with members of the community preparing a meal and dessert for families staying at the Christchurch House. We have fully stocked freezers and pantries which you are welcome to.

For any additional food requirements, there is a New World Supermarket at South City Mall on Colombo Street, just a 2-minute drive away, or Fresh Choice on Lichfield Street, a 9-minute walk from the Christchurch House.