TWO North-East charities have launched a £2m campaign to build an urgently needed new 'Home from Home' for families whose children are waiting to have heart surgery.

The Sick Childrens Trust and Childrens Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) made their joint appeal today (Tuesday, June 11) as North-East businessman, Graham Wylie, pledged to help raise £1m towards the appeal.

The house, to be built in the grounds of the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, will include 18 en-suite bedrooms, a flat to help prepare patients to go home, as well as a range of communal facilities.

The Freeman Children's Heart Unit is one of only two child heart transplant centres in the UK and offers pioneering treatment for children requiring heart surgery.

Because it takes children from all over the UK, families often travel long distances to receive treatment.

Finding accommodation locally can often prove stressful and costly.

Sir Len Fenwick, chief executive of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Currently, there is a massive strain on the parental accommodation here and because many of the children receiving treatment are here for long periods of time there are just not enough flats for the families that need them. This new house should go some way to resolving this and supporting our families' needs."

Claudette Watson, chief executive of The Sick Children's Trust, said the new block would support up to 600 families a year.

She said the charity often had to turn families away from their existing centre, Crawford House at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, because it was full.

Dr Simon Haynes, chairman of CHUF, said the new centre will make "such a difference."

Mr Wylie, whose daughter Kiera received life-saving treatment at the Freeman, said: "As a parent I know first hand just how important it is to be close to the family. I can't imagine how hard it must be for parents who live hundreds of miles away."

Two of those staying at Crawford House are Chris and Ciara Bouchers from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, who have two children, Lucy and Daniel, who is almost three.

Lucy, who was born in January this year, is being treated for heart and renal failure.

Mr Boucher said: "I know that we will never be able to repay the charity for the amazing accommodation they have provided us for more two months now."

To donate to the campaign or get involved in the fundraising visit The Sick Children's Trust's website sickchildrenstrust.org or visit CHUF's website chuf.org.uk . You can also donate via Just text giving by texting HFHA10 3 to the number 70070 and follow on Twitter @SCTHomefromHome