A Willaston nursery has launched its bid for Christmas number one with a single supporting Alder Hey children’s hospital.

Staff and children at St Joseph’s Nursery and Preschool, in Douglas, recorded the video for the song back in September and it is now available for pre-order.

The single, ’Very Good This Year (Ho, Ho, Ho)’ was created with Small Boy Productions based in Manchester.

Nursery owner Emily Cattle described the single as a ’traditional, nice and happy Christmas song’.

Sung by lead vocalist James Cokerill of Small Boy and Friends of Catherine, the song is to raise money for Alder Hey to say thank you for the life saving care it gave Emily and husband Rob’s daughter Catherine.

During the launch, Emily told guests including the Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney, Monsignor John Devine, friends, family and staff from Noble’s Hospital, about the care that Catherine received.

Four-year-old Catherine was born with the heart condition Tetralogy of Fallot which affects the structure of the heart. She underwent surgery on Boxing Day 2015 at Alder Hey when she was just four weeks old. Remarkably she was home a week later.

Emily said: ’The video is out and you can pre-order the song for just 79p. What can you buy for 79p these days? All the money is going to go to the hospital which saves lives so please buy it.

’I’d like to raise thousands for Alder Hey and if we could make number one and raise thousands then it would just make our Christmas.’

Mel Moon from Small Boy Productions said: ’Emily and Rob have been through one of the hardest things you can as a parent and we wanted to somehow emulate the magic of Christmas in this song with them.

’And the real magic, not just the presents but the love and that for one night a year all belief is suspended and you find yourself going along with what your kids believe in and we just wanted to bring that to life.’

Pre-order the song at www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZM2TKZN or via the iTunes store. It will be downloaded on December 13 when it formally goes on sale.

Listen to the song and see the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbNxvfNhFwI.