RL360° has presented ?2,562.94 to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Noble’s Hospital.

The money was raised during 2015, when the SCBU was RL360°’s chosen charity partner. Staff worked hard on a variety of fundraising efforts, including a quiz, bake sales, a Wimbledon-themed strawberries and cream event and the Christmas raffle. The company matched the funds raised to reach the total and it is likely that the money will go towards the purchase of a vital scanner for the unit.

Jill Evans (pictured), who heads up RL360°’s Charity Committee, said: "RL360° is very pleased to make this contribution to the important service SCBU provides to our community.”

Paul McCann (also pictured), SCBU lead nurse, said: “I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who worked and contributed to the fundraising. On behalf of all the babies and parents who go through our service, it is very much appreciated.”

Between 750 and 900 babies are born in the Isle of Man each year and, of those, an average of 130 to 150 are admitted to the SCBU (although the birth rate was slightly down in 2015 so fewer babies were admitted). A total of 13 nursing staff run the unit, which costs ?970,000 each year to run. An incubator alone costs ?29,000 to buy and a monitor costs ?15,000.

In 2015 14 babies weighing less than 2kgs were admitted.

During the year, staff delivered 60 days of intensive care, 146 days of high dependency care and 991 of special care. Just 3 of the total 90 babies admitted in 2015 had to be transferred to the UK for treatment. This is down to the experience of staff and the facilities offered in the highly specialised unit, which moved to new bespoke premises at Noble’s Hospital just over 12 months ago.