DOCTORS branded as the best Christmas present ever news the hospital had hit its £175,000 incubator appeal target.

It means Great Western Hospital can buy five new top-of-the-range baby incubators for some of Swindon’s tiniest patients.

And it was members of Swindon Mosque who got the appeal over the line. The Broad Street mosque raised £2,000 in just eight days.

Dr Sarah Bates, neonatal consultant, said: “It feels like the most wonderful Christmas present. It’s an appeal that’s reached so many people, because everyone knows someone who has needed to use the neonatal unit or they have used the unit themselves.”

Catherine Newman, head of fundraising for hospital charity Brighter Futures, said: “It’s great how the community has come together. We feel really united around a single cause. We are so grateful for their support.

“We’re delighted to have hit the target for our incubator appeal just in time for Christmas. We can now replace five of the 10 incubators and we might even be in a position to replace the remaining five with the on-going fundraising plans for 2019.”

The Swindon Mosque has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity over recent years, turning their attention to the latest Brighter Futures appeal.

Ishak Mogul, chairman of the Thamesdown Islamic Association and the Swindon Muslim Council said: “Our thanks go to the community, to the people who stood up to the mark and made this happen.

“We are here in Swindon and therefore we want to be part of whatever initiatives there are. It is ingrained in the Islamic culture that giving to charity is a way of paying your debt to the future. It’s a way for the Muslim community to help the poor, the needy and the ill.

“We love to help our local community and we want to start with supporting charities that are closer to home.

“Great Western Hospital is such a big part of Swindon, caring for thousands of patients, so this is our way of saying thank you for the excellent service.”

Scores of families at the Broad Street mosque have been supported by the nurses and doctors at GWH’s SCBU and maternity unit. The wife of imam Imran Belim spent a spell in intensive care when she lost blood after giving birth to her fourth child by caesarean section: “When you experience it first hand you can see the work the do – and they do an excellent job.”

Since the incubator appeal was launched in March, hundreds of people and groups have donated. The gifts range from enormous £35,000 contributions by baby charity New Life and the Malmesbury League of Friends to cake sales by former SCBU patients who wanted to say thank you to the hospital staff who saved their lives.

A match-funding effort raised £15,000 towards the appeal total in just one week. One woman called the Brighter Futures office, saying she could not afford to donate the £1,000 the hospital needed to raise every day of that week – but that she would write a cheque for £500.

And Adver readers played their part, with the paper taking up the cause. Editor Pete Gavan said: “It’s fantastic the appeal has hit its target. Thousands of people across Swindon and Wiltshire have generously donated to the appeal. I’m pleased we were able to help put the appeal in the spotlight.”

What's so special about the new incubators?

The new incubators will make a huge difference for newborn babies and their parents, a top Swindon doctor said.

Dr Sarah Bates has been a consultant at the Great Western Hospital’s special care baby unit for four years – and a doctor for 16.

Her team chose the new Drager BabyLeo incubator after testing a number of models at the beginning of the year.

She said: “When we were originally looking to replace our incubators, which were getting quite old, we looked at the BabyLeo. But we quickly thought because they were top-of-the-range we wouldn’t be able to afford them.”

Now they can, thanks to generous Swindonians.

The new incubators boast state-of-the-art technology, meaning they will not need to be replaced for some time. And huge removable walls in the sides of the incubators allow parents to hold their new child as it lies in its cot.

Dr Bates said: “Having that early contact is so important and the science suggests it supports babies’ brain development. It seems crazy that a piece of equipment makes that much difference, but it really will.”

'Without SCBU our children wouldn't be here'

Parents have backed the £175,000 incubator appeal.

Amelia Grimmett added her congratulations to the GWH fundraisers and her thanks for all those who donated.

The 40-year-old West Swindon mum’s first-born, Ethan, spent a month in SCBU after he was born eight weeks early on New Years Day 2006.

“I think it’s amazing that people have got together and raised this money,” she said. “Until you have a child who is born premature and is cared for at SCBU, I don’t think you realise how important the staff are there.”

Susan Winslow, 37, from Wroughton, added: “It’s an incredibly difficult time for families who have to use the services of SCBU. No one expects it to happen to them, but it could happen to anybody. Unless you’ve been a parent by that bedside you don’t realise how amazing SCBU is and how supportive the staff are.”

Gail Folland, 49, from Covingham, gave birth to Elliott three months before his due date in 1993: “I will never forget Elliott’s time in SCBU. It is something that will stay with me forever. It's down to the staff’s expert care and knowledge that he is here today and I will always be in debt to them for that.

“Nothing was ever too much trouble and they kept me informed on Elliott’s progress every step of the way.”