Cambridge Lions member Elbe Moreland, past district governor Derek Mills of the Waihī Lions and Cambridge Lions’ Ian Crabb
The Lions Cancer Trust Project’s free mobile screening vehicle paid its first visit to the Waikato and King Country this month.
Cambridge Lions Ian Crabb and Elbe Moreland with the fundraising board. Photo: Janine Davy
The six-tonne melanoma and skin cancer detection vehicle provides people with access to detection services from qualified medical professionals.
The vehicle, unveiled at Hamner Springs has been in action since late March.
“She’s 9.7 metres long. You can drive her with a normal vehicle license. She’s an absolute a beast. She’s wonderful,” volunteer and Cambridge Lions member Elbe Moreland said.
“There are two consulting rooms on board. There’s a little office for the doctor. All the computers, all the cameras, there’s a big TV screen. Everything is there.
“The screening is free of charge. The Lions pay for that. Then we send a referral to your GP. We don’t tell you that something is wrong or not wrong.”
The Lions Cancer Trust Project’s bus stopped in Cambridge. Photo: Janine Davy
After screening visitors at the Waikato Home & Garden Show in Hamilton, the vehicle was taken to Bay of Plenty before stopping in Cambridge on the way to the King Country.
Ōtorohanga, Te Kūiti and Piopio were among the stops.
“At the Home & Garden show at Claudelands, we only had one screener for the day and we put 43 people through,” Moreland said.
Australasia has the highest rate of incidences of skin cancer in the world and more than 500 people a year die with melanoma in New Zealand. Early detection of skin cancer saves lives.
In 1990, the Lions Clubs of Western Australia set up a free skin cancer screening service which has operated successfully ever since.
In 2019, Gary Irvine of the Australian Lions Cancer Institute (WA) attended the New Zealand Lions Convention in Blenheim and gave a presentation on the establishment of the institute. He encouraged New Zealand Lions to also help save lives.
The project was approved in November 2021 and the Lions Cancer Trust was formed with a representative from each of the seven Lions Districts.
Moreland said she was proud to volunteer and encouraged people to get their moles screened.
“It’s very important. Four years ago, when my son was 36, they found melanoma in his armpit. Now he has to be tested every year. He’s 6 foot 4. He’s an accountant. He wears long sleeve shirts and doesn’t go out in the sun,” Moreland said.
“They found something last December that was not suspicious, but it wasn’t good looking. So, it was taken out.
“Please don’t think it can’t happen to you because you don’t go out into the sun or you use sunscreen.”
Moreland said the vehicle is always available but being Christchurch-based, has to be booked in advance.
The team is in the process of building a second vehicle to cover the North Island.
Dermoscopy-trained nurses can donate just a day or two of their time each year to have a huge impact on people’s lives by helping catch skin cancers early.
“We need medical people to give up one or two days a year. Money is most important, but we do need medical staff as well,” Moreland said.
“Why I like to volunteer is I meet like-minded people, and we work. I don’t have money to give away, but I’ve got time that I can give.
Cambridge Lions member Elbe Moreland, past district governor Derek Mills of the Waihī Lions and Cambridge Lions’ Ian Crabb raise awareness for the free cancer screening bus. Photo: Janine Davy
