THE death of her mother from a rare cancer has inspired a Strathblane woman to stage a fabulous Masquerade Ball.

Franqui Ritchie, whose mum Jill died after a two-year battle with bile duct cancer, has even coached a group of young singers to perform at the event, which takes place on Saturday at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

Franqui says: "My mum always dreamed of holding a masquerade ball, so I want to do this for her.

"The type of cancer that my mother had was extremely rare, hard to diagnose and even harder to treat.

"There were only a few treatments available and no clinical trials on offer for her.

"Only about 1000 people are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK and most cases cannot be cured.

"I would like to help make a difference to this and host the ball my mum always dreamed about for the charity most dear to my family and I."

She adds: "Perhaps by doing this we might be one step closer to finding more treatments and clinical trials, and improving the survival rate for bile duct cancer."

As part of her ball preparations, Franqui has spent weeks coaching a group of singersm, aged between nine and 13, from across Milngavie, Strathblane and Killearn.

She has sold 600 tickets and has also collected some incredible raffle prizes, including a brand new VW Golf.

Franqui is donating proceeds from the night to Cancer Research.