A LOCAL charity, Ronald McDonald House, brought smiles to patients' faces by decorating hospital wards just in time for Christmas. 

The independent charity provides free accommodation to families with children in the hospital. The accommodation can be found opposite Southampton General Hospital's A&E ward and is a 53 bedroom facility. 

The volunteers decorated all five floors of the Southampton General Hospital and were joined by Tutor Doctor Central Southampton Salisbury, a private tutor agency. 

Sarah-Jayne Bevis, House Manager of Ronald McDonald's Southampton branch, told the Daily Echo: "No parent wants their child to be ill. Unfortunately, time doesn't stop children from getting sick, especially at Christmas. 

"By organising this Christmas party, we wanted families to come together and have some downtime.

"I think, arranging and doing something for parents who are having a stressful time also made our team of volunteers feel valued and important."

Owner of Tutor Doctor, Aide Twinning, who has been fundraising for Ronald McDonald for 20 years, is also on the Board of Governors of the charity. He said: "Ronald McDonald is an amazing charity that provides free accommodation on the grounds of Southampton General Hospital for families who are unfortunate enough to have a child staying in hospital as an in-patient.

"After the year we had, nobody would like to celebrate special holidays from medical wards. We wanted to do something special this year for the kids and go the extra mile. We decided to surprise the children and their families by bringing Christmas to them.

"I believe, everyone in the hospital was so happy and grateful. We all had a terrific time."

The volunteers put together a Christmas tree, decorating it with blue and white baubles, Santa's sleigh, and reindeer. The hospital grounds and other floors were decorated with Christmas stockings, candles, and wreaths.

From Saturday, 11 December, the charity will be hosting small events for families staying at the accommodation. 

Ms Jayne said: "We are planning to host parties and hopefully some of the kids will be able to reunite with their families if their doctors allow it.

"We are trying to make it as nice as possible and are making sure it is a Covid-free environment."

For more information, visit: www.tutordoctor.co.uk/southampton-central-salisbury/#~t0W0T73

or rmhc.org.uk/our-houses/southampton-house/