Congratulations to David and Almina - and say hello to Amelia.

I've said before that some stories are a lot harder to write than others.

Over the past couple of months I've struggled with the stories I've filed about David Robinson.

He's a young police officer in the city who has cancer.

The tumours are incurable, according to doctors.

David needs to raise £100,000 to undergo experimental treatment in the US which he hopes will give him as much time as possible with his wife, Almina and their very new daughter, Amelia.

His colleagues at Mansfield House station have taken up the challenge of getting him on that plane to the US and they have been an inspiration.

It goes without saying, the couple's friends and family are doing exactly the same.

A couple of months in and the total collected has just gone beyond £30,000. Amazing.

People's health is such a difficult subject, very emotional.

I'm also conscious a lot of people are reading these stories.

These are people who care deeply about David and his family as well as, in a lot of cases, those who deal with me on a daily basis.

I hate to get things wrong in print and I worry about getting something back to front in these stories.

Anyway, this is a picture of David and Almina with Amelia. She arrived on Monday, weighing in at a delicate 5lbs and 9ozs.

For the full story and all kinds of things you might need to know, search Facebook for 'help us help a friend' or go to:

http://www.davidleerobinson.co.uk

I write some words, people read them and a man in need gets help. Simple.

I'm made up. Writing for newspapers really is the business to be in.

It seems I've helped drum up support for the campaign to raise the rather daunting £100,000 city police officer David Robinson needs for cancer treatment.

David and his fiancee, Almina tell me that there's been a good response to the stories I've done so far. I'll keep writing them for as long as necessary.

The stories were also picked by the the local TV and radio people and their viewers and listeners have chipped in too apparently.

The picture above was taken for the Merc when David and Almina dropped in to meet Team Robinson, the police colleagues at Mansfield House station who are going all out to raise money.

Having said that, these two are clearly surrounded by loving family and friends who are doing more than their bit to let people know about this campaign.

To read David's story and to make a donation, go to:

www.davidleerobinson.co.uk

There's also a huge Facebook group.