A SCHOOLBOY’S charity campaign which was sparked by a ‘tooth fairy’ donation and his love for his poorly grandmother has passed the thousand pounds mark.

Oliver Williams had four baby teeth removed in an operation at North Tees General Hospital which his mother Jenny said had been traumatic for the youngster.

But the seven year-old turned his experience into a positive by donating the £4 he subsequently received from the tooth fairy to the Roy Castle Lung Foundation – a kindly gesture which has since been matched and more by other people.

An online fundraising page has now collected £1,152. The youngster, from Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, has also been in demand for a series of media interviews since The Northern Echo publicised his story last week.

His grandmother, whom he refers to as his ‘Baba’, was diagnosed with cancer more than a year ago and is said to be “overwhelmed” by recent events.

Oliver’s mam Jenny said: “Ollie has started something amazing. We’ve had complete strangers donating £50 and sums like that.

“He is taking it all in his stride, but is absolutely ecstatic at the amount of money that is coming in. I would like to think this could be the making of him, he has got such a buzz out of it.

“Everybody knows someone who has been touched by cancer and if this leads to more awareness of lung cancer specifically and also more donations to help fund research this can only be a good thing.”

She added: “The money that is coming in won’t save my mother, but it could give hope to someone else’s.

“Fifty pounds can fund an hour of research into the early detection, treatment and prevention of lung cancer, which is the whole point of what we are trying to do.”

A spokesman for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is a lovely and kind gesture by Oliver and we would like to congratulate him on raising such a fantastic amount of money.”

Anyone wishing to donate can do so by visiting the website www.virginmoneygiving.com/SomeoneSpecial/Baba