Colin Bloomfield appeal target is tripled

Colin Bloomfield launched the appeal in February and died in a hospice two months later

An appeal launched by BBC Radio Derby presenter Colin Bloomfield shortly before he died has raised almost three times its original target of £45,000.

The Colin Bloomfield Melanoma Appeal total now stands at £133,730. The extra money will be used to provide UV sun meters in public places for the first time in the UK.

The 33-year-old, from Shropshire, died on 25 April from skin cancer.

He wanted to prevent other people from being affected by the disease.

His mother Alison Bloomfield thinks the money raised in his name will help to do that.

"I think it's absolutely fantastic and I can't believe it's gone to so many people's hearts," she said.

"I think what we all have to realise is actually there's no cure as yet for melanoma so the best way to deal with it is has got to be prevention.

"It's dreadful to lose your only son at 33 to something which is preventable."

She said her son was "quite a modest guy" but would have been "overwhelmed" by the amount of money raised if he were still alive.

"If we can prevent this particular disease, which is on the up, I think we have turned a corner and we may just stop other people going down the same route and making a mistake," said Mrs Bloomfield.

How the money is being used

• The appeal was launched in February and aimed to raise £45,000 to provide 100 schools in Derbyshire and East Staffordshire with sun cream dispensers, and to educate the children about the sun.

• It reached its target after just six weeks, while Colin was still alive, so a new target of £75,000 was set to extend the project to 200 schools.

• Money over the £75,000 target will be used to provide UV sun meters in public places in Derbyshire and East Staffordshire.

• One of the sun meters will be at Markeaton Park in Derby, where there will also be a Colin Bloomfield Shade to protect people from the sun while they sit on the grass.

The appeal is closing on 31 December and the Colin Bloomfield Shade and UV sun meter at Markeaton Park will be in place next spring, in time for the summer.

Other locations for the sun meters are yet to be decided.

The UV sun meters have lights similar to traffic lights that tell people what action to take, such as going in the shade