IT was a tale to warm even the coldest of hearts at Christmas.

Generous friends, fans and even hundreds of strangers donated £100,000 to help fund cancer treatment for Delays frontman Greg Gilbert in a matter of days, leaving his family with renewed hope over what was always going to be such a difficult festive period.

I stopped my Sainsbury's shop to have a little weep as the news filtered through that Greg's fiancee Stacey Heale had reached her crowdfunding target for the potentially life-saving treatment required to give the father of her two beautiful little girls three-year-old Dali and Bay, aged one, a better chance of seeing them grow up.

I naively thought this outpouring of love would give Greg the treatment he needs and hopefully put him on the road to recovery.

But, of course, his fight continues and, while bravely undergoing NHS chemotherapy, he has discovered that more than double may be needed to pay for private treatment abroad.

As I write, the total is nearing the £135,000 mark, an incredible amount by anyone's standards.

Some of Southampton's finest talents, including Sean McGowan and Grant Sharkey, took to the Joiners stage last night to boost the fund.

Further fundraisers are planned, including one at the 1865 in February tipped to involve the city's global guitar giants Band of Skulls, and one at the Concorde Club later this month, which will also involve other members of Southampton’s closely knit music community joining forces.

Unlike pretty much every other high profile artist, no one ever has a bad word to say about Greg or any of the Delays boys, in my opinion the nicest and most underrated band in music.

It would be a dream to see them back on stage again, Greg's unique voice belting out the wonderful Valentine.

But, most importantly, I'd love to see him chasing around after his little girls like he was the last time I saw him at a kids show at the Mayflower, the way we both roll these days.

I hope everyone takes their Christmas spirit into 2017 and digs deep for the most worthy of causes.

Give for Greg to allow him and his family to fight this dreadful disease with full force.

Visit www.gofundme.com/give4greg