Six-year-old fundraising Lancaster mountain climber thrilled with whopping £10k donation from a stranger

Oscar Burrow made a big impression on Mark Dunn when he saw the schoolboy speaking about his challenge on BBC North West Tonight news earlier this month.

Mark decided to make a not-so-pint-sized donation to help Oscar on his way to the £29,000 target – topping it up with a whopping £10,000.

Mark, from Houghton Dunn Charitable Trust, surprised Oscar and his family with the big cheque at Derian House Children’s Hospice.

Now the pounds raised are ahead of the feet climbed in Oscar’s challenge to climb 12 mountains in the UK. The incredible donation brings his total to £27,000 – almost one pound for each foot of Mount Everest.

Oscar said: “Wow, that was a brilliant surprise. Mark has helped us and I’m almost there – I only need £2,000 and we have done it. The money Mark donated is another 10 holidays for Derian House families – yay!”

Mark said: “I was watching the local news and there was a six-year-old boy looking to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest to raise £29,000 for Derian House. Oscar has been making a fantastic effort for someone so young – he’s very brave. I know of Derian House so I decided to help him out and help him almost reach his target.”

Oscar’s mum, Kim, said: “I was so gobsmacked. The generosity of Mark just blew me away. I was smiling from ear to ear, jumping about and just looking at Oscar.

"It’s so surreal, we never set out on this journey thinking we’d ever raise anywhere near this amount of money and all of a sudden we’ve got to this point and I can barely comprehend that people have been so generous – it’s amazing.”

Oscar’s challenge is to finish on May 29, when he aims to summit Ben Nevis in Scotland – and this day holds a lot of significance as it will be the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

To sponsor Oscar visit: Oscar Burrow is fundraising for Derian House Children's Hospice (justgiving.com)