NOW in its third week, the County Gazette's campaign for the Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment is off to a flying start, with £2,612 raised so far.

SURE is aiming to raise £600,000 to provide cancer screening and treatment equipment for a new cancer centre, due to be built at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton next year.

The campaign already stands at over £435,000 - and another £950 came in last week alone from County Gazette readers.

The £600,000 will provide a top-of-the-range CT scanner simulator which will pinpoint the exact size and location of a tumour within the body, and then specifically target that area for treatment.

The money will also pay for a lead mask-making machine, which will provide masks to protect unaffected areas of the body from the radiotherapy treatment, as well as training for staff to use the equipment and the first three years' running costs.

The campaign was started in 2000, when the original target was £400,00.

But with the advancement in technology, new equipment has become available which would improve the quality of care which could be provided.

So the group upped its target to £600,000 to buy the best equipment.

Send your appeal donations to Mr Eric Saffin, SURE, 19 Greenway, Monkton Heathfield, Taunton TA2 8NF.