VAL Bugden-Cawsey, her friends and family were overwhelmed with the support they received, when hundreds of people turned up at Launceston Medical Centre on Sunday to take part in a three-mile fundraising walk.

Val, who has recently been diagnosed with an advanced and rare type of malignant melanoma, has decided to focus her efforts on fundraising for a research project at Derriford Hospital — the Malignant Melanoma Research Fund — in the hope that in the future, others will be in a better position to face this cancer and win.

Her story was featured on BBC Spotlight on Friday, when viewers heard malignant melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, and cases rose by nearly 50% in the South West between 2007 and 2015.

See the full report and photos on page 6.