A former chief reporter at a weekly newspaper who raised thousands for charity while battling terminal cancer has died aged 34.

HTFP reported on Friday that David Lawson, who previously worked for the Oswestry and Border Counties Advertizer, was battling terminal cancer.

Despite being told his cancer was incurable, he raised nearly £7,000 for the Kenyan Schools Project with a sponsored climb up a local landmark in Shropshire on New Year’s Eve.

But David sadly lost his battle with cancer on Saturday morning, after being diagnosed with the illness just over a year ago, and more donations have flooded in on his fundraising page since his death.

Susan Perry, associate editor of NWN Media Ltd and a former Advertizer editor said: “Dave was a hard working and loyal member of the Advertizer team. He was an excellent reporter with a particular gift for feature writing.

“As a former athlete he built up numerous contacts with local sports clubs and was well respected by the reporters he mentored over the years.

“As a friend he had a huge heart and would always go that extra mile to help. He fought his recent illness with great courage and was an inspiration to all who met him or read his online blog.

“Testament to this was his New Year’s Eve walk up Rodney’s Pillar which so far has raised nearly £10,000 for the Kenyan Schools project.

“His friendship and huge smile will be missed by us all and we send our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”

A tribute was also paid to him on the Oswestry Town Council website, which said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of David Lawson. A brave and amazing guy taken from us all far too early. Rest in peace David.”

David’s charity climb saw him scale Rodney’s Pillar on Breidden Hill on the night of 31 December with friends to raise the cash for the charity, which supports children in Kenya.

He said the climb was the hardest thing he had ever done and he had been “paying for it ever since”.

David initially hoped the efforts of him and his friends would raise around £3,000 for the charity, which would cover the cost of building a classroom in Ukunda, Kenya.

But his donations topped his target in less than 24 hours and have now reached more than £8,000 on his fundraising page, with many people donating after hearing about his death.

To donate to the project click here.