Colin Bloomfield cancer appeal raises £150,000

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 more than £150,000.

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

The Colin Bloomfield Melanoma Appeal, which closed on 31 December, raised a total of £152,495.

Money from the appeal, involving Radio Derby, the Derby Telegraph and cancer charity Skcin, is being used to provide UV sun meters in public places.

It will also be used to fund work with schools in Derbyshire and East Staffordshire.

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

His mother Alison said the money raised in his name would now help to do that.

"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."

Colin Bloomfield backed the campaign by the Skcin charity to raise awareness of the dangers of the sun's ultraviolet rays

The Derby Telegraph was also part of the Colin Bloomfield Melanoma Appeal

How the money is being used

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

• 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