BASILDON Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has been chosen by the Mayor of Thurrock as his charity of choice during his term in office.

Cllr James Halden's fundraising initiatives will benefit the purchase of a new portable incubator, which will be used to transport premature and poorly babies making their way to the unit direct from the delivery suite.

Tara Rivers, NICU Matron, explained how it will make a big difference. She said: "Our current portable incubator is large and difficult to manoeuvre, the newer model will be of huge benefit to our staff and babies. The funding provided will allow us to transport babies within the hospital more efficiently, we are so grateful for the support we are receiving from the mayor."

Cllr Halden visited the unit himself, to see how fundraising for the equipment will make an impact on the lives of poorly babies.

He was impressed by how far the unit had come since he last visited back in 2019, when his twin nephews were born prematurely, it moved in to a one-million-pound purpose-built unit earlier this year.

Cllr Halden continued: "It's a great pleasure to support Basildon's Neonatal Unit, visiting it has been an uplifting experience. The care provided by the team here is exemplary; it's a real privilege to be able to contribute towards a new portable incubator.

"I've seen first-hand how it would benefit both the unit and its patients at the start of their young lives."

So far, the Mayor's office has raised £2,000 of the £20,000 needed to fund the new equipment.