A MUM with a dangerous form of skin cancer is almost half way to raising the funds for a potentially life-saving piece of technology.

Lisa Costello was diagnosed with a Stage 1 melanoma and had her mole removed.

She has more than 200 moles on her body and is highly susceptible to skin cancer.

Her dad, Geoff Cleal, had the same disease. He died in November 2015, aged 59.

Lisa, who is a driving instructor from Shrub End, Colchester, has made it her mission to raise awareness of the often dormant condition.

The mother-of-four is raising £30,000 for a mole mapping machine which will be based at Colchester Hospital.

She started fundraising in June and is now almost half way towards reaching the target.

She said: “I have had lots of help from the community so it’s going really well.

“I organised a boat party in London in the summer and we had a charity ball last month at Colchester Town Hall.

“Tracy Davies has donated £8,858 from events she’s organised since 2017 in memory of her son who died of melanoma.

“She hosted a Greatest Showman themed night in September.”

Another friend, Joe Adams, hosted a pop quiz night for the cause.

So far, a total of £13,718 has been raised.

Lisa added: “We’ve just had a man come forward who wants to help us and he’s going to get married in Spain next year and is cycling there to raise money.

“I have three events for next year already planned.”

The mapping machine takes photos of patients in 27 different positions and a dermatologist looks at every mole in detail.

It is particularly useful for people who are known to have an increased risk of the developing malignant melanoma.

It costs £195 for a 45-minute private session but once the mole mapping machine is in place the cost will be covered by the NHS.

For more information about Lisa’s forthcoming fundraising events and to donate visit Moments into Memories on Facebook.