England cricket captain and Children’s Hospital Charity Patron, Michael Vaughan, is to name a newly refurbished train in honour of The Children’s Hospital, Sheffield.

The naming of one of East Midlands Trains’ seven-carriage Meridian trains will take place at Sheffield station on Tuesday 26 February.

The sportsman and BBC Strictly Come Dancing star will be joined by a former patient from The Children’s Hospital, Owen Wilkinson (aged ten) from Barnsley as well as representatives from East Midlands Trains.

Owen’s life was saved by surgeons at The Children’s Hospital when he had a fall at school and needed emergency surgery for a severe bleed on the brain.

The naming of one of East Midlands Trains’ refurbished seven-carriage Meridian trains (222 004) will signify a successful partnership between the train operator and The Children’s Hospital Charity. It will provide a great opportunity to celebrate this collaboration, provide additional support for this important Sheffield-based charity and raise the profile of its Make it Better Appeal.

The charity’s Make It Better Appeal aims to generate £20m towards a £40m development at The Children’s Hospital.  Some existing wards will be replaced and more single rooms will be created to give families space, privacy and dignity. Other planned enhancements include a special play tower, gardens, specialist medical equipment and artwork.

Once named, the train will travel regularly on East Midlands Trains services between Sheffield, Derby, Leicester and London and will be seen by thousands of people each day, helping to raise the profile of The Children’s Hospital in Sheffield.

Last year, more than 245,000 patient journeys were made to the hospital by children and families across Sheffield, the wider region and across the UK.