Ingenia and Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC) have joined forces to create a unique partnership supporting Australian families with seriously ill children.

Various groups of needle-sharp seniors participating in the Knitting from the Heart initiative, as part of the Ingenia Lifestyle Be Active program, have put their decades of knitting skills to work to create over 400 beanies, 30 teddy bears and countless other knitted goods such as scarves, knee blankets and handcrafted coat hangers for the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms.

The rooms are a warm and welcoming home away from home inside the hospital, away from the clinical environment of the wards.

Managed by volunteers, the family rooms contain lounge areas, sleeping rooms, laundries, cooking facilities and more. This means there is always somewhere the family can unwind.

In these rooms, as well as in the houses themselves, there are baskets containing hand knitted beanies and teddies for children and mothers to take as they desire, which is where all of our resident’s creations will be donated to.

Ingenia Lifestyle Bethania resident, Diana Culley, said the craft group meets weekly to create soft goods to sell and donate to various charities, including RMHC, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Red Cross Australia, Mission Possible and various drought relief efforts.

“In addition to supporting various charities, our knitting group provides hundreds of clothes, blankets and comfort toys to the Logan Hospital each year,  including soft octopi for premature babies to cuddle,” she said.

This is just one example of our residents rallying together for a cause.
Every month (and sometimes more often!) there is an activity that provides an opportunity for residents to socialise or use their talents for good! Celebrations, recognition events, morning teas and barbecues are often enjoyed; as much to celebrate togetherness and community spirit as it is about gold coin donations.

Being part of a community is a wonderful feeling!
There’s a generous spirit in each of our residents and they all have a unique story or reason for giving back. It’s all part of being, living and enjoying the community lifestyle. Buying a new home and being part of an Ingenia Lifestyle means likeminded neighbours that will soon become good friends.