A songwriter has penned a track and is hoping the free download will boost five cancer charities.

John Murray, of Lindley, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 when he was working in Dorset as a flight instructor.

Failure at his medical forced him to give up flying and he relocated to Lindley with partner Nina.

With time on his hands, and a new perspective on life, he found himself writing songs for the first time in 20 years.

But when the cancer returned, having spread to his liver, John stepped up his bid to help charity.

Under the stage name Johnkneem he has released his song Treasure Every Beat of Your Heart as a free to download and he’s asking for a donation to charity in lieu of payment for it.

John, 49, said: “It came to me completely at random, I was driving through the Everglades in Florida and a song came into my head.

“I think it is a pretty good song. I’ve only had one dislike on Youtube (against 2,800 likes).

“I’m going to carry on writing songs and give it a go and see what happens.”

John is asking people who download it to contribute to charity what they think it is worth. He’s supporting the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Yorkshire Cancer Centre, Poole Hospital Charity, Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK.

John, who moved to Huddersfield in 2010 with partner Nina, an engineer at Syngenta, is playing some gigs for charity too.

He has already supported the band Dodgy at the Cockpit in Leeds in May, which was his first proper gig. And he’ll perform at the Musical Hog and Apple Festival, July 26-28 at the Nightingale Pub, Lindley.

Money raised at the event will be donated to Yorkshire Cancer Centre. The song Treasure Every Beat of Your Heart was written in late 2012 when John had been clear of cancer for two and a half years.

He wanted to give something back to the people who had saved his life and started thinking about how he could use the song to raise money.

The project gained a greater urgency earlier this year when John received the news that his cancer had returned.

John’s song is available for download from Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/johnkneemofficial/treasure-every-beat-of-your or on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU7d3w7SOmA