Ronald McDonald House Community Landscaping Project Newcastle

Creating a Safe and Welcoming Outdoor Space for Families at Ronald McDonald House Newcastle

At Jason Reading Landscapes, our purpose has always been simple: creating beautiful memories. While that most often means transforming residential backyards and outdoor living spaces, this particular project carried a much deeper meaning for our entire team.

During one of our annual planning sessions, we made a collective decision to give back, to donate our time and services to a cause that genuinely makes a difference in our local community. Together, we chose Ronald McDonald House Charities, recognising the extraordinary support they provide to families with sick or injured children receiving treatment at John Hunter Hospital.

Ronald McDonald House Newcastle gives those families a safe and comfortable place to stay during one of the most difficult periods of their lives. After meeting with their team and walking the site, we identified an outdoor area that urgently needed attention.

A timber staircase connecting the lower accommodation area to the children’s playground had deteriorated significantly and been closed off with caution tape. What had once been an important connection point within the space had become completely unusable. Our team saw an opportunity to change that.

Client Goals

The aim of this project was to restore safe access between the lower accommodation level and the children’s playground, while improving the overall feel of the outdoor space for the families who use it every day.

The project needed to:

• Replace the unsafe staircase structure
• Improve accessibility and functionality
• Brighten and soften the surrounding environment
• Create a safer space for use during both day and night
• Deliver a welcoming outdoor area for families staying at Ronald McDonald House Newcastle

Above all, the space needed to feel warm, considered, and genuinely inviting.

Challenges and Community Collaboration

Unlike most construction projects, this one was driven entirely by donated support and community goodwill.

Once our in-house design team had developed a landscape concept for the area, we reached out to a number of trusted suppliers and industry partners to ask whether they’d be willing to contribute materials, services, or labour. The response was immediate and overwhelmingly generous, this quickly became a true community effort to bring the space to life.

We are incredibly grateful to the following partners who supported this project:

• Saddingtons Building Supplies
• Infinite Power and Electrical
• CETNAJ
• 4 Seasons Landscape Supplies
• Arborgreen
• Glendale Select Plants
• Maitland Ready Mixed Concrete
• Recycle Central Group

Customised Solutions by Jason Reading Landscapes

Our design team created a practical and welcoming landscape plan centred on safety, usability, and visual improvement.

The completed works included:

• Removal and disposal of the existing unsafe timber staircase
• Clearing of old shrubs, weeds, and overgrown vegetation
• Installation of jute matting for erosion control
• New planting and mulching to soften and brighten the area
• Concrete footings for the new staircase structure
• Construction of a brand new treated pine staircase
• Installation of outdoor stair lighting for improved nighttime safety and visibility

The staircase was built by our in-house carpentry team using materials donated by Saddingtons Building Supplies, while all demolition, preparation, planting, mulching, and landscaping works were completed by our broader team onsite. Infinite Power and Electrical handled the outdoor lighting installation using materials donated by CETNAJ, ensuring the staircase could be safely used at night while creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere throughout the space.

Every stage was carefully coordinated between the Jason Reading Landscapes team and our generous project partners.

Community Landscaping Project Impact

The transformation was immediate.

What had been an unusable, cordoned-off area is now bright, safe, and genuinely welcoming. The new planting softens the space beautifully, and the staircase and lighting restore both the connection and the sense of care that a place like Ronald McDonald House deserves.

For our team, this project was a reminder of why we do what we do. Being able to contribute, even in a small way, to a service that supports families in such difficult circumstances was a privilege we don’t take lightly.

It also showed us something we already suspected about our local community: when you ask good people to show up, they do. Watching so many businesses step forward without hesitation was genuinely special.

This is a project we’ll never forget, and one that sits at the very heart of what Jason Reading Landscapes is about, and what creating beautiful memories really means.

Looking to Create Meaningful Outdoor Spaces?

Whether it’s a residential backyard, a commercial landscape, or a community project, great landscaping transforms how a space feels and how people experience it.

If you’d like to talk about what’s possible for your space, we’d love to hear from you.