THE charity set up in memory of York schoolboy Oscar Hughes is to help fund a research project giving hope to other young people with brain tumours.

Almost a year after the Dunnington nine-year-old died from medulloblastoma, OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour charity is donating £26,000 towards the trialling of a new way of treating the highly aggressive type of tumour.

The project at The University of Birmingham, funded by the Brain Tumour Charity and Cancer Research UK, will assess the impact of delivering chemotherapy drugs directly into the brains of children with recurrent medulloblastoma, rather than orally or intravenously as usually happens.

Oscar's mother Marie said: “We will never get over losing Oscar, but we want his legacy to be one of hope.

"By supporting The Brain Tumour Charity with this project, we know that we can help bring hope to children and families affected by brain tumours.

"We aim to fund more projects like this in future and would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated so generously to OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity."

Oscar was initially diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2013 and appeared to respond well to treatment. However, he suffered a relapse last April, prompting Marie and her husband Ian to begin fundraising to take him abroad for promising clinical trials and research.

Tens of thousand of pounds were donated in a matter of weeks, with backing even coming from Manchester United, whom Oscar supported, but he deteriorated rapidly and died on May 3, aged nine.

The Hughes decided to use the money they had already raised to help other children facing similar battles and set up their charity, with the aim of helping to fund research projects, and it has raised £130,000 so far.

Sarah Lindsell, chief executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “We are immensely grateful for this support from OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity. “Too many families like the Hughes are being devastated by brain tumours and research is the only way we will make a difference.

“Marie and Ian’s determination to create something positive out of Oscar’s death is inspirational. We look forward to working with OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity in the future to achieve our shared goal – beating brain tumours.”

The Birmingham trial is expected to begin later this year.