A grieving family will be hosting a charity auction in memory of their little girl, who brought an 'overwhelming glow' everywhere she went.

Christopher and Gillian Godwin, from Godmanstone, lost their beautiful two-year-old daughter Emsee in 2007.

Following a long and courageous fight, the couple tragically lost Esmee to streptococcal pneumonia brought about by a compromised immune system, and a deadly combination of a heavy winter cold and chicken pox.

Since Emsee's passing, Christopher and Gillian have launched The Esmee Godwin Fund and have raised more than £20,000 for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Southampton General Hospital, where Esmee was treated.

The auction is the latest event in the fundraising campaign.

Chris, 41, said: "During her time in PICU, Esmee received the very highest level of specialist medical care and we could never thank the department enough for the extra time that they gave us with Esmee before her passing."

Chris added: "Esmee was just the most beautiful girl. I always said she had a very natural beauty, the kind that you would see in Victorian oil paintings.

"Wherever Esmee went she would bring an overwhelming glow, a true happiness and a sense of fun. Her smile was infectious, and while she had a mischievousness, she also had a mind and intelligence way ahead of her years.

"Esmee had a real love of music, her favourite band being Take That, and their hit at the time Patience being her number one song.

"Esmee liked many things during her too short a life, including chocolate biscuits. But above all, her greatest love was horses. She would wake up in the morning and say hello to the horses in the field opposite, and say goodnight to them at the end of each day.

"While she was being treated at Southampton, after being told she would not make the journey there from Dorchester, Esmee was given the nickname 'the rough and tough girl' by her consultant, in recognition of the unbelievable fight that she was putting up, against all the odds.

"Esmee is still everywhere that we go, and in everything that we do. She remains in the thoughts and conversations of her family and friends each and every day, and is the reason that we now raise awareness and funds for the wonderful PICU at Southampton."

On Saturday, August 5 Chris and Gillian will be hosting a special charity auction at Buckland Newton Village Hall and everyone is invited.

The auction will start at 1pm with viewings from 11.30am.

It will include furniture, ceramics, pictures, collectors items, rugs and days out and trips away, such as spa days, rounds of golf, a tour of The Princess cruise ship when it is docked at Southampton, bed and breakfast at Rick Stein's Padstow Seafood Restaurant, a stay at Loch Ness Lodge in Inverness, and even a pair of return flight tickets to New York, courtesy of Virgin Atlantic.