A NEW campaign by a Hampshire celebrity couple is set to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

Star of hit TV show Broadchurch Sarah Parish and fellow actor husband James Murray – Coronation Street, Cucumber – are asking cuddly toy fans to get together for the Ginormous Teddy Bears Picnic.

As part of the couple’s drive to raise £2 million in aid of a new state of the art children’s accident and emergency unit in Southampton, the week of events will see celebrity pals Dr Ranj, Hugh Bonneville, Amanda Holden, Jessica Stevenson and Nina Sosanya dust off their hampers and trot on down to the woods –with the help of primary school pupils across Hampshire.

With dozens of schools already signed up, organisers at the Murray Parish Trust are suggesting a donation of £1 per child to take part.

Sarah Parish, mum, actress and founder of The Murray Parish Trust said: “We wanted an event that would catapult our cause into the hearts and minds of the region but at the same time bring fun, some fantastic facts and a smile to the faces of many children. And so the Teddy Bears Picnic was born.”

As previously reported, the new children’s A&E department at Southampton General will cost £4.8 million.

The Daily Echo has supported the initiative with the #MatchMyMoney campaign, with dozens of Hampshire businesses donating thousands of pounds which has then been matched by Hampshire philanthropists the Barker-Mill Foundation.

The Ginormous Teddy Bear’s Picnic is the latest fundraising drive by the Murray Parish Trust. With their #2MillionSteps campaign Sarah Parish and James Murray hope to raise the first £2 million towards the specialist unit, with central government match funding the rest.

The picnic events will take place from June 5-11.

To get involved go to http://teddybearspicnic.org.uk/sign-up-now/ or for further information email picnic@themurrayparishtrust.com.