Ronald McDonald House is celebrating a year since the first family came to stay, and executive officer Rebecca Walsh said the word is out in central and far west communities about the importance of keeping the house operating.

“We have had families referred here to Orange from 86 per cent of the state, or over five health districts,” she said.

“It is a tribute to the board of Ronald McDonald House in Orange. They had the vision to incorporate accommodation for families whose child needed mental health treatment here, as it is the first house in Australia to do so.”

In the past year, 20 families have stayed at the house while their child received mental health treatment.

“They accounted for the majority of 59 visits over 363 nights because they often returned multiple times, with one family staying for several weeks,” Ms Walsh said.

Ms Walsh said the people of Orange and district who were permanent volunteers at Ronald McDonald House Orange were the “heartbeat” of the house.

In the past 12 months volunteers have contributed more than 13,000 hours of service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We just couldn’t do it without them,” Ms Walsh said.

She says families who come from a wide area of the state are returning to their communities to raise money for the house.

“They are helping to spread the word and it is helping to ease the pressure on our local contributions and fund-raising,” Ms Walsh said.

“Recently we had a family from Forbes, who had used the house, fundraise to buy outdoor tables and chairs to be used on the verandah, so people can sit outside and have a cuppa.”

Ms Walsh said high-risk pregnancies had also resulted in a high number of families staying at Ronald McDonald House Orange.

“We have mothers who are expecting to stay with us for antenatal reasons, but also after premature babies are born here and the family needs to stay, we can offer them a place,” she said.

Learning program education co-ordinator Alison Wilkins has not only been co-ordinating the volunteer roster but has been supporting sick children to keep up with schoolwork, and co-ordinating holidays at one of the holiday houses in Australia.

“When you are a family with a sick child, often you don’t have the opportunity to be together as a family unit as much as you would like, which is why co-ordinating holidays for our families is so important,” Ms Walsh said.

Families who have stayed at the house in the last 12 months have come from the Central Coast, far west, Hunter region, Canberra and as far south as the Victorian border, with one family from Western Australia who needed emergency treatment during a stay in Orange.

janice.harris@fairfaxmedia.com.au