The money will help set up the new hospital unit

Some of the �12,000 donation will be spent on baby resuscitation equipment at Aberystwyth's Bronglais Hospital.

Angela Whitehead, who set up the Little Sunbeams appeal, was jailed for a year last month after stealing �11,914.75.

The money is being donated by the Principality Building Society, where Whitehead kept the appeal account.

Ceredigion and Mid Wales NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the money would also be spent on a special blanket for babies with jaundice and an infusion pump used to get drugs into a baby's system.

This was a cause widely supported by individuals and organisations Eleri Ebenezer

Eleri Ebenezer, trust chair, said the donation enabled the trust to fund the special two-cot unit.

"At the moment, we have no specific money allocated for this type of equipment, but the donation means we're able to go ahead with the unit," she said.

Of the Little Sunbeams Appeal, she added: "This was a cause widely supported by individuals and organisations alike and they will no doubt wish to applaud the action taken by the Principality."

Whitehead was sentenced at Carmarthen Crown Court last month

Whitehead, from Bolton, but previously of Llanon, Ceredigion, admitted theft from the Little Sunbeams appeal. She was sentenced at Carmarthen Crown Court.

A hearing at Aberystwyth magistrates in August, heard how she had set up the appeal after her granddaughter had been born prematurely in 2003 at Bronglais hospital.

The appeal raised thousands of pounds, however the hospital only received �2,386.38.

Whitehead had initially been charged with the theft of �14,368.47, but she disputed the figure.