Member Article

Scottish wellness giant partners with Ronald McDonald House Charities UK to support mental health of families nationwide

Leading global fitness and well-being community app, TRUCONNECT, named Ronald McDonald House Charities UK’s Official Healthy Lifestyle Partner.

Glasgow headquartered leading global fitness and well-being community app, TRUCONNECT, have announced a partnership with globally renowned independent charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, who provide free ‘home away from home’ accommodation, facilities and support to families while their child is in hospital.

Specifically, the partnership sees TRUCONNECT become Ronald McDonald House Charities UK’s Official Healthy Lifestyle Partner in the UK, with free access to the TRUCONNECT app to be provided to families staying at all 14 Ronald McDonald Houses extending to all Ronald McDonald House Charities UK employees.

The news comes amidst the release of a recent cost-of-living survey conducted by Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, whereby 70% of parents and carers who have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House in the last six months reported that their finances have been negatively impacted by having a child in hospital. Two in three also reported the cost-of-living crisis to have caused their mental health to suffer.

The partnership is aimed to help tackle this statistic, ensuring the well-being of families in Ronald McDonald Houses is optimally supported so they can remain actively involved in their child’s care.

James Wildish, Head of Technology and Corporate Wellness at TRUCONNECT parent company The Original Fit Factory explains: “The work that Ronald McDonald House Charities UK does to keep families together, helping them maintain a degree of normal life and reducing emotional and financial strain when it matters most is critical. Working with them, we hope to be able to harness improved overall well-being for families going through what is an incredibly challenging time.”

Families and Ronald McDonald House Charities UK employees will have access to over 1000 mental and physical health programmes through the partnership including NHS approved mental well-being courses, and extending to over 400 tasty and nutritious recipes, while the TRUCONNECT app features unique interactive functionalities designed to empower users to take control of their physical and mental well-being hand-in-hand with others.

James adds: “There’s everything from the option to create, complete and log your own workouts, to monitoring your mental health through the use of meditations, soundscapes and podcasts. We have also recently introduced a challenges feature designed to connect families across the country, which is also a tool we see being game-changing in enabling Ronald McDonald House Charities UK staff to engage with one another.”

Ella Joseph, Chief Executive Director at Ronald McDonald House Charities UK says: “Last year we were able to provide a ‘home away from home’ for more than 6,600 families and in our recent survey, 91% of families and carers advised this helped to ease the financial burden of having a child in hospital.”

Ella adds: “We recognise though, that understandably the cost-of-living crisis is still impacting the mental health of families considerably, and so we are excited to be working with TRUCONNECT to support and improve the mental and overall well-being of families and our valued employees.”

Over 60,000 families have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House in the UK since the first House was opened in 1989 with Houses located as close as possible to specialist children’s hospitals spanning the likes of Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Oxford and Southampton.

TRUCONNECT meanwhile, is part of The Original Fit Factory’s wellness ecosystem of products and services curated to enhance the physical and mental well-being of individuals, businesses, and their employees, enabling them to achieve a happier and more accessible way of living.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucie Hayes .