THE firms which built the new Guardian Angels children’s unit at York Hospital were so inspired by what they saw, they decided to dig deep and have donated hundreds of pounds to help with its upkeep.

The companies responsible for building the two state-of-the-art high-dependency rooms have handed over £1,500 to buy more equipment for the unit.

William Birch & Sons made the donation with six sub-contractors – J Wedgewood & Son, A1 Environmental Services, Dunnington Electrical Services, Penlon, Aardvark Flooring and Static Systems Group.

Chris Birch, managing director of William Birch & Sons, said: “Having been involved with building this life-saving children’s unit since the beginning, we, and our sub-contractors, felt it was a cause well worth contributing to.

“We are delighted to be able to add to the growing fund. “Seeing Dr Robin Ball and his team in action, it is clear that excellent work is being done thanks to the new improved facilities.”

More than 80 children, suffering from conditions such as meningitis and respiratory problems, have been treated in the new unit since it opened in August.

It was funded entirely by The Press’s Guardian Angels Appeal, which reached its £300,000 target last October.

The appeal has now been given official charity status to enable fundraising to continue to help with the upkeep of the unit.

Thanks to the new unit, many more seriously-ill babies and children no longer have to be transferred to hospitals in other cities, such as Leeds, for their treatment, easing the strain for their families at a traumatic time.

However, those requiring intensive care still need to be transferred, and the next aim of Guardian Angels is to buy a mobile intensive care cot to transport the most critically-ill babies via ambulance.

If you would like to donate money to the new Guardian Angels unit, send cheques made out to Guardian Angels York, Foss House, 271 Huntington Road, York, YO31 9BR.