Seven year old Bridgette has been coming to Ronald McDonald House since she was born. In fact, she’s such a frequent visitor that she refers to it as “The Castle” because it’s her second home.

Bridgette was born with a cleft palate so she and her mum, Jessie, make regular trips from Moree to the John Hunter Children’s Hospital for treatment.

Each time they visit, the family know they’ll be greeted by a familiar face at Ronald McDonald House and receive the support they need to help get them through.

“As a single mum, it’s hard to do these trips alone. If we have an emergency, it can feel like our whole world is falling apart. Sometimes you only have half an hour to pack up your life and make a flight.”

“We’ve sometimes found ourselves staying longer than we thought we’d need to due to new tests or another appointment being needed. The Ronald McDonald House team have been amazing and are like our family away from home.”

Bridgette and Jesse have also been helped through the Ronald McDonald Learning Program. “I mentioned to one of the staff that Bridgette was behind in school and they told me about the Learning Program and set us up with a tutor.”

“Bridgette studies with her tutor, Debbie, at the Moree library every week. Debbie says that Bridgette’s test scores are much better than they were 12 months ago and we’re all really happy with her progress,” Jessie said.

The sense of community in the house has also been a huge comfort to Jessie and Bridgette. They’ve both made some special friends who they keep in touch with.

“Unless you’ve needed emergency accommodation, you don’t know what it’s like to have a home away from home. I’m so grateful to everyone at Ronald McDonald House for their support,”