THE Blackburn family behind Euro Garages have donated money so a hospital department can buy much-needed equipment.

The Issa family, founders of the EG Group, gave cash to the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust's charity.

Mr Issa, father of the company’s CEOs Mohsin and Zuber Issa, made the donation to ELHT&Me for equipment needed in the Speech and Language Therapy department.

Alison McLaughlin, Clinical Lead for Speech and Language Therapy, said: “We are delighted to accept this piece of equipment, and so grateful to the Issa family for their generous donation.

“The equipment will have a huge impact on the speed and quality of the work we do across multiple departments, and the family kindly agreed to fund the maintenance of the machine over the next few years, which is amazing.”

The charity were able to buy a fibreoptic nasendoscopy, a very thin camera, which is inserted through the nose into the throat to look at the voice box from above.

It is part of the fireoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, which is used to assess a patient’s swallowing, their voice, and the strictures of their throat, secretions and sensation.

This can help decisions on whether a patient is safe to eat and drink.

Mr Issa also stated that he was delighted to see the machine being used and benefitting so many patients across East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust.