Our history

Paul Cressey and his wife Sheryn. Paul is now an Officer of the Order of New Zealand, having received an honour in the 2007 Queens Birthday list for his work with the RMH Auckland Trust and CCF.

Ronald McDonald House Auckland began as a result of one family’s journey…

Paul Cressey (previous Chairman of the RMH Auckland Trust) and his wife, Sheryn (a long standing and invaluable House volunteer) are the ‘founding family’ of the Ronald McDonald House movement in New Zealand.

Their son Carl was diagnosed with cancer in 1979 at the age of seven. Two years later in 1981 they traveled, with their two other children Charmaine and Mark, to Sydney seeking possible life saving specialist treatment for Carl’s condition, treatment which was not then readily available in Auckland nor in New Zealand.

Paul and Sheryn had been expecting to pay for their motel accommodation during Carl’s treatment cycle which was to last many months. Serendipitously for them, and indeed consequently for other New Zealand families of children with life-threatening illnesses, they were one of the first families to stay in the first Ronald McDonald House to open in Australia (indeed outside the USA where the ‘mission’ was founded).

On returning to New Zealand in 1982, and after Carl’s untimely death just three months short of his tenth birthday, Paul, seeing the need for similar accommodation in his own city, began seeking support for the establishment of a New Zealand House.

Through Paul, The Child Cancer Foundation saw value in partnering a new community charity that would specialise in housing families of children with illnesses such as cancer, who had to travel for treatment. They supported the campaign to open the first Ronald McDonald House in Wellington in 1991, with Ronald McDonald House Auckland opening in 1994.

Ronald McDonald House Charities (International), which licenses the New Zealand Houses and its own local chapter (the philanthropic arm of McDonald’s in New Zealand), provided the Auckland House with a capital grant of over $314,000 towards the initial building fund. Owner/operators of McDonald’s franchises supported the cause with donations through ‘small change’ boxes in their stores.

The Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland raised over $1,000,000 through a radio appeal for the Auckland House and the Auckland District Health Board, understanding the importance for children needing treatment having the support of their families, came onboard with a prime plot of land situated close to Starship (on the site of the old children’s hospital). The 1979 Auckland Children’s Appeal Trust contributed $196,000 and Variety — the children’s charity — contributed $75,000.

The community was called upon for the balance of the funding and the ASB Community Trust, with a generous $500,000 grant, along with numerous individual donations completed the capital required to build, the first ten rooms of which opened on the 24th of October 1994.

In 1998 the RMH Auckland Trust became responsible for the financial and operational management of Heart Children’s ‘Heart House’ at Greenlane Hospital. Two representatives of that Trust, Ian Donald and Leon Gundesen took seats on the RMH Auckland Trust board alongside the other key partners. When the decision to close Greenlane Hospital was made in 2003, the Heart Children’s Accommodation Trust merged their assets with that of the RMH Auckland Trust, contributing over $1,100,000 to the 2006 Auckland House expansion campaign for Ronald McDonald House Auckland.

Demand increased substantially for accommodation in the ensuing years as more and more national paediatric specialty services were centralised on the Auckland City Hospital site at New Zealand’s only specialist children’s hospital — Starship (operated by the Auckland District Health Board).

Developmental milestones

• 1994: Stage 1 — the 10-bedroom House takes shape (pictured right).
• March 1997: Stage two expansion, 14 bedrooms and two small lounges.
• Nov 2003: Two small lounges converted to bedrooms to supply increased demand.
• July 2004: Ronald McDonald House Family Room opens in the Starship with 10 beds for families with children in critical care units and a large day lounge for parent respite.
• Dec 2005: Our new 22-bed wing is commissioned. This new wing includes four self-contained transplant recovery units, activity rooms for children and teens, an outdoor playground and quiet spaces for parents as well as a communal kitchen, living and dining room.
• July 2006: The existing house recladding and refurbishment is completed (26 rooms).
• October 2006: Official opening for $7.7 million expansion. Ronald McDonald House Auckland is now able to shelter up to 48 families every night.
• February 2007: The Ronald McDonald House School opens onsite enabling siblings (and occasionally patients staying at the House) to continue their education while away from home.
• June 2007: Ronald McDonald House Family Room expands by an extra three crisis care bedrooms in order to match the number of children’s beds in intensive care (ICU) and high dependency (HDU) at Starship. The Trust is now able to cater for up to 61 families every night, 365 days a year, across its two facilities.
• March 2008: The Ronald McDonald House Fitness Centre opens, providing parents with an accessible way to unwind and de-stress after spending long days in the hospital.
• July 2009: Our new offsite facility RMHA St Martins opens, located just a 5 minute walk from the hospital. St Martins provides 16 self contained apartments meaning we are now able to care for up to 77 families every night.