Gill Murray is determined to remain positive

Gill Murray, 51, from Wymeswold, has been diagnosed with lung cancer which has now spread to her brain.

A non-smoker, she was only diagnosed with cancer in January 2004, after getting headaches.

She plans to donate the money to buy Nottingham City Hospital essential radiotherapy equipment to target brain tumours.

Suddenly there was a launch and an appeal fund and hospitals working together - that's Gill. Paul Murray, husband CancerBACUP website

Doctors told Mrs Murray she had probably been ill for about a year, with no symptoms.

Now she has been told she could be dead within months.

She said: "You've only got to have something like this, and it brings out the best in everybody, doesn't it? It's like the Dunkirk spirit."

Mrs Murray, who has a 21-year-old son and a daughter of 18, plans to stay at home for as long as she can, although she may eventually decide to go into a hospice.

The idea to raise money for a scanner came as "a total brainwave in the middle of the night - I thought 'oh I can do all this, I can raise money, because I know so many people.'"

Her husband Paul, also a teacher, said: "Suddenly there was a launch and an appeal fund and hospitals working together - that's Gill."

Mrs Murray worked as a teacher for 30 years until her illness forced her to quit.

Pupils at her last school, Burton on the Wolds Primary, are now supporting her fund-raising efforts.