A £5,000 donation has been made to Great Western Hospital’s emergency department to fund new equipment.

It was made by the charity Rapid Relief Team, which offers practical help to various other charities, emergency services and other supportive organisations across the UK and globally.

The donation will support the recent £33.5 million expansion of Great Western Hospital - the biggest ever investment in the Swindon hospital - which was revealed to the public last month.

The new department includes a new Children’s Emergency Unit along with expanded adult treatment facilities.

The Rapid Relief Team’s donation was made via Brighter Futures, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s charitable arm.

It will provide new resuscitation equipment trollies, a mobile x-ray machine, furnishings for two private relatives rooms, and a sky ceiling for the new department.

Laurie Pomeroy, Swindon team leader for the Rapid Relief Team UK, said: "The Rapid Relief Team, a charity made up of volunteers from the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, is delighted to donate £5,000 to support the opening of this new emergency department.

"We are proud to be long-term supporters of the Great Western Hospital, having donated frontline care packs, food boxes and provided nutritious hot meals to team members and those they care for.

"Our donation of £5,000 towards equipment at the new emergency department is a demonstration of our enduring thanks and appreciation for their efforts.

"The hospital and its team of outstanding emergency workers go above and beyond to deliver outstanding care and support to our local community.

“Our volunteers now look forward to fuelling the hundreds of team members with food and drink as they transition over to the new department.”

It is the latest support Great Wester Hospital has received from the Rapid Relief Team following donations of frontline care packs to emergency staff and food boxes for hospital workers.

The team's volunteers are also preparing to serve hundreds of meals to staff at the hospital as they transition to the new facility.

Catherine Weaver, associate director of charitable funds and voluntary services at Great Western Hospital, said: "I was delighted to meet the volunteers from the Rapid Relief Team who presented us with a £5,000 donation towards our Way Forward Appeal and the amazing new emergency department.

"They’ve been so generous to us over the years, and we’ve had a great partnership with them.

"We're hugely grateful for their continued support - they have been brilliant."