THE Murray Parish Trust has announced the launch of #2MillionSteps, a national appeal to raise £2m which will be match funded by the Government to build a state-of-the-art children’s emergency and trauma department at University Hospital Southampton.

The announcement was made by Sarah Parish, who founded the Trust with her husband and follow actor, James Murray, during the Rookwood Festival in Medstead on June 4, which raised £15,000 toward the appeal.

Building on the recent success of their previous campaign to raise £300,000 to expand the paediatric intensive care unit and add more bed spaces, this project was the largest of four charitable projects chosen by Chancellor George Osborne to receive match funding, to improve health facilities for children nationally.

The announcement comes after a successful bid spearheaded by Winchester and Alresford MP Steve Brine.

“I worked closely with The Murray Parish Trust and Southampton Hospital Charity to make a successful case for this guaranteed match funding. This fantastic venture will offer much needed coverage across the south of England, in time becoming an important part of the regional economy. It will be a much-needed step in re-balancing paediatric emergency departments across the entire country,” he said.

The new department will become a regional major trauma centre delivering life-saving and acute specialist care for critically ill children from across nine different counties, stretching from Devon to West Sussex and Oxfordshire to the Channel Islands.

Sarah and James launched the Trust in memory of their first daughter, Ella-Jayne, who died of congenital heart failure in 2009. When they are not working in the film and TV world they dedicate their time to raising funds for the charity.

Having successfully helped to raised the £300,000 needed to expand the paediatric intensive care unit, the couple have turned their efforts to the #2MillionSteps intends to raise the necessary funds and awareness for the new unit by asking the public ‘What steps will you take to make a difference?’.

And on June 4 they ran the first Rookwood Festival, which attracted a crowd of close to 1,000 who enjoyed music from two live stages featuring the likes of Dodgy, Ward Thomas, Head North and Deborah Bonham, rounded off in style with Fast & Frank DJ set from a couple of Fun Lovin Criminals.

The couple were overwhelmed by the response, saying: “It’s been an amazing experience and a lot of hard work but everyone has had a fabulous time. We can’t thank everyone enough for supporting us and coming along and helping to raise such an incredible sum of more than £15,000. We’re already being asked if we’re going to do it all again, and we really hope to.”

Sarah said: “#2MillionSteps is off to a stomping start. We need to raise awareness as well as cash so what we’re asking everyone to do is tweet their feet. Summer is here so just snap your feet, doesn’t matter what they look like, and then nominate two other friends to do the same. It’s like ice bucket by nowhere near as cold! Look out for the campaign on twitter #2MillionSteps.”

James added: “We did so well for our first music festival. It’s a two-year appeal to raise the £2m matched funding. Rookwood was a fantastic fundraiser, so watch this space. We’d love to do it again.

“Key now is our big #2MillionSteps appeal. We’ll be tweeting our foot selfies to get it going and we’d love everyone to take a step and get behind #2MillionSteps in whatever way they can. The simplest is to post a fun foot selfie with text TMPT16 £5, or any amount, to 70070. In the end it’s all for our children’s specialist hospital and emergency and trauma unit. We can’t build it without your help and support.”

Michael Uglow, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and paediatric orthopaedic specialist at University Hospital Southampton, supports the campaign. He said: “The University Hospital Southampton is a leading level one trauma centre in the UK. The current area specifically for injured children is small and poses challenges for the volume of cases that the department receives. The new plans for a dedicated children’s emergency department are essential for the hospital to continue to provide the highest level of trauma care for the injured children of Southampton and the south of England.

“The fundraising plan of The Murray Parish Trust is to raise £2m to match that promised by the current government. Any support that can be given to this most worthwhile of causes will support the reality of providing a dedicated children’s emergency department in Southampton for the benefit of injured children for years to come.”

Fiona Dalton, the hospital’s chief executive and former deputy chief executive and at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, added: “The creation of this new unit is part of our longer-term ambition to provide our young patients with a single-site children’s hospital, housing all paediatric specialities.

“This development is a crucial part of our strategy. To achieve our mission to be better every day and to manage the forecasted increase in demand, it is essential that we update, support and grow our children’s hospital.”

For more details on the appeal, how to donate and ‘take steps to make a difference’ that will help save children’s lives, visit themurrayparishtrust.com.