22/12/2016 South Today

Here on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.

Hello and welcome to South Today. The top stories this evening. Hope

for Greg, the front man of Southampton band Delays has cancer

and his family are fundraising for his treatment. As many prepare for

the great Christmas getaway, we have the latest on tomorrow's travel. And

ready to help. The food banks setting up at fire stations for

those facing a crisis this Christmas.

Greg Gilbert is most well known as the lead singer

He's also a talented artist and a father of two.

But at the age of 39 he's been diagnosed

Doctors say the cancer has spread and all they can offer him

But his family are determined to raise ?100,000 to get him

alternative treatment, which is not available on the NHS.

Greg and Stacey are all smiles with their two young

daughters as the countdown to Christmas continues.

But this young family is facing hugely emotional and practical

challenges as they fight to find a way to keep Greg alive

Cancer is, I mean, the word has got such an aura of fear around it

and to be honest with you I'm still trying to process it

and talking to you about it today is surreal.

We were told that on our daughter's first birthday.

We should have been at her birthday party,

but we were told that instead, and it's...

To have to hear Greg have to ask how long he had to live.

Greg is well known as a singer and guitarist with Delays,

an indie band that have performed at numerous festivals and venues

After being admitted to hospital, Greg was diagnosed with stage four

bowel cancer which had spread to his lungs.

You find yourself saying, how long have I got?

And all of a sudden you're living in a drama that's your life.

The cancer had spread to his lungs and because of the extent of that,

they would offer him chemotherapy but he wasn't a candidate for

And they were very sorry but they didn't think there

Along with his music, Greg is also a talented artist.

He has now started chemotherapy and is full of praise for the NHS.

From the beginning all the way through they have been absolutely

sensational and this whole situation has really brought home to us

the value for everybody, you know, the community.

But treating Greg has become a big challenge.

He's genetically incompatible with drugs offered by the NHS,

so they're looking at medicines they have to pay for

I started to realise that we need options and options cost money,

So far over ?86,000 has been donated.

There aren't any words to describe what we've seen

I think it would take me two lifetimes to express the gratitude.

I knew we had wonderful fans and friends but I have been

They've been together for ten years and they're determined to do

all they can to find a way to beat Greg's cancer.

He has a determination with things that he sets his mind to that I've

And for our girls, our girls, we're doing this for our girls.

Stacey Heale ending that report by Steve Humphrey.

The annual nightmare journey as commuting,

last minute shopping and trips to join the family all pile up

together on the last couple of days before the break.

Add to that the prospect of rail closures and industrial

action by train crews and, well, you get the picture.

So does that mean getting around over the festive break

A question for our transport correspondent Paul Clifton,

who's been at Reading Station today.Travelling at Christmas.

If this was a panto production we'd all be shouting back

On the roads the people who monitor traffic jams can't quite decide

whether tomorrow or Saturday will be the busiest day of the entire year.

At least on the trains we know what is coming.

There will be no Great Western trains at all into Paddington

So you have to head home in good time.

GWR suggests passengers switch trains to Waterloo.

Waterloo is Britain's busiest station and it shuts at 8pm

on Christmas Eve and doesn't reopen until the 27th.

Industrial action on Southern will affect services every day.

The vast majority of railway lines do stay open, but journey times may

be longer and the routes may be different.

This work happens at Christmas and other days of the year

but at Christmas you get three or four days where very few people

are likely to be travelling during the Christmas period.

Some of the quietest times on the railway network.

It makes sense for Network Rail to do the work then.

On the roads tomorrow will be terrible.

One of the SatNav operators is calling it Carmageddon.

A third more traffic will be out than on a normal day.

I don't like to be the harbinger of doom and gloom -

Food banks in the South are expecting a surge

in demand this Christmas, after a busy December last year.

Today, the Salisbury-based Trussell Trust, which provides emergency food

and supplies to those most in need, sent food parcels to

The building, which will remain open during the festive period,

will act as a collection point for those who need help,

Vicky Charles and her daughter Samaire are looking forward

to celebrating a first Christmas in their new home.

But four years ago when Samaire was a baby and Vicky was struggling

to make ends meet on maternity pay, Christmas was looking bleak.

I can have beans on toast and it won't matter...

Vicky was helped by the Trussell Trust -

which delivered a box of Christmas food.

It even had a foil pan to cook the turkey in and some gravy

and I think there was even chocolate in there.

Looking back I have some good memories of her first Christmas,

my first Christmas as a mother, rather than sitting

This year, the Trussell Trust will be delivering more than 200

of those special Christmas hampers to people in need in

We have seven single boxes and seven family boxes...

For the second year running emergency food boxes will be

available here 24/7 - for anyone who is in need

It is unpredictable and many people can't access agencies for support

because they are closed, so we want to be able

to be there for them at one minute's notice.

We understand there are people out there struggling to make ends meet.

They need all the help they can get from us and other organisations,

There is a big jump in the number of people

Vicky is now a successful writer, but she hasn't forgotten the food

bank that saved their first Christmas together.

Once again, they are trying to make sure nobody goes

People in a village in Dorset have been learning to bake bread to feed

The project based in Sutton Poyntz near Weymouth has attracted

dozens of volunteers, who've been turning out loaves to be

handed on to charities helping the hungry in the town.

They've also been selling their produce to raise money

Every month we have at least one day where we each bake loaves in our

own kitchens and then take them down to anywhere else

where homeless people need food, and we donate that

We're back tomorrow with bulletins in BBC Breakfast and there's more

Now Alexis Green is here with our forecast.

There will be some glorious days over the Christmas period. An

increasing frost should keep the frost at bay tonight. One more two

pockets of frost in the countryside with clear skies. And luckily as

guide temperatures will fall away to around 2-3 Celsius, with the fairly

light winds. Winds will start to increase tomorrow, more during the

afternoon with the arrival of Storm Barbara, which will affect the north

of the country. The south we will have periods of rain during the

afternoon and temperatures will reach a height of 10-11 Celsius.

With the winds, they will cost around 40-50 mph. For parts of West

Dorset we could see wind gusts in excess of 60 mph and exposed coastal

stretches. There's a yellow wind warning in force. The rain will

rattle through the course of tomorrow night, clearing quickly on

the strong wind. With the wind we will see it continuing to be very

strong through the course of Christmas Eve, making it feel quite

cold. Christmas Eve is a decent day. Lots of sunshine on offer. Varying

amounts of cloud. Christmas Day, we are expecting a good deal of cloud.

The chance of patchy drizzle at times. It will be very mild for

itself, it's not white, but it's warm. Temperatures could reach 15.

I suppose you could say today was the calm before the storm. A winter

chill, plenty of sunshine, but more wintry showers in Scotland, more

snow over the higher ground. Some of this snow will melt for a time

tomorrow because there is wind and rain coming in from the Atlantic. So

we'll leave the Highlands behind, head out and look at the cloud here,

this tell-tale hook of cloud, signifies a storm is developing,

this is Storm Barbara, of course, it is a deep and deepening area of low

pressure, rushing towards the north-west of Scotland.

Steppingening the winds and bringing rain into the north-west by tomorrow

morning. Ahead of it fairly quiet. Already the showers in the north

less wintry. Fewer and clearer skies, across England and Wales for

a time, it could be chilly. One or two mist and fog patches. Out to the

west winds pick up later, cloud increases and the rain arrives and

very quickly tomorrow across Scotland and Northern Ireland it'll

turn very wet and also