Newport-based Henry Howard Finance has chosen Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity to be its ‘charity of choice’ for 2017, launching the partnership with a donation of more than £1,600.

The independent finance house, which provides the SME sector with funding solutions, has pledged its support to the Noah’s Ark Tiny Lives Appeal. The appeal, which was launched late last year, aims to raise £1m to fund equipment and family facilities at the University Hospital of Wales’ new neonatal unit.

Henry Howard Finance’s initial £1,678 donation will pay for two video monitors, known as ‘MummyCams’, which allow mothers of babies in the neonatal unit to watch them on a live feed as they recover.

The firm, which has its head office at Langstone Business Park, hopes that further fundraising in 2017, including cake sales and various sponsored activities, will help Noah’s Ark reach its £1m goal.

Matt Jones, head of asset finance at Henry Howard Finance, said: “Every day in Wales there are children in need of vital and urgent care, and Noah’s Ark provides much needed support. Our local community is extremely important to us and we are proud to be partnering with a charity that support those in our area.

“We have already recently funded two MummyCams, going some way to alleviating the anxiety of having a child in a neonatal unit. We are already planning activities for the rest of the year, so our team can have fun while raising money for a worthwhile cause.”

Noah’s Ark Charity chairman Eddie Hayward said: “We are extremely grateful for the donation from Henry Howard Finance and its support for the Tiny Lives Appeal. The first few hours after a baby’s birth are precious for any new mum and dad. But for parents of premature or critically ill babies, that time is spent apart - often for many hours - while the neonatal team work to stabilise the infant’s condition and the mum recovers from birth.

“As well as providing life-saving equipment for the new unit, the Noah’s Ark Charity Tiny Lives Appeal will support families at what we know is an extremely emotional and worrying time in their lives. The MummyCams will give parents the opportunity to see their babies move and have things explained to them by the team caring for them, to provide some comfort in what must feel like the very long hours before they can be reunited.”

Henry Howard Finance is one of the UK’s leading business finance providers for SMEs, supporting more than 20,000 UK businesses across a variety of sectors.