Insurance workers in Ceredigion have donated nearly £16,000 to the Wales Air Ambulance to help fund baby pods.

NFU Mutual Agents and their staff in Ceredigion and Llandovery nominated Wales Air Ambulance, to receive a donation of £15,798 from NFU Mutual’s national £2.33million ‘Agency Giving Fund’.

The money will be used to fund hi-tech Babypod incubators on board the charity’s helicopters.

The carbon-fibre pods make a vital difference in treating infants up to nine months old and mean babies can be given advanced treatment while being flown to hospital.

Hannah Mitchell, Grants and Trusts Fundraiser at Wales Air Ambulance said: “Thank you to the Tregaron and Llanybydder offices from NFU Mutual for nominating Wales Air Ambulance to receive a donation from the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund. The funds will go towards purchasing the fixtures and fittings for one of our baby pods which will be used to transport our youngest patients onboard one of our helicopters.”

Heather Holgate, NFU Mutual Agent & NFU Cymru Group Secretary said: “We’re extremely proud to have nominated Wales Air Ambulance for this donation and are delighted to be able to support the vital contribution they make to our community. The purpose of NFU Mutual’s Agency Giving Fund is to support local frontline charities who are providing essential services to people in our community, and our agency felt that Wales Air Ambulance was a very deserving cause to champion.”

The pioneering incubators are lightweight and non-metallic, which means they can be used directly in X-ray and MRI scanners as soon as a young patient arrives at hospital.

The pods are lined with shock-absorbing foam to reduce vibrations from the helicopters and they also have vacuum mattresses which can help immobilise infants while in the air being transported to hospital.