Coventry Uni graduate part of NHS choir aiming for Christmas No 1

An occupational therapy graduate from Coventry University is part of the NHS choir going head to head with Justin Bieber in a bid to claim Christmas No 1 honours.

Bethany Hemming, 25, from Worcester, graduated in 2013 and is now working for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in a community children's centre, as well as singing for the trust's choir at wards and festivals around the country.

The choir is currently at number two in the charts with its charity single A Bridge Over You – a stirring mix of Coldplay's Fix You and Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water – and is just a few thousand sales shy of knocking the Canadian singer off top spot.

All proceeds from the choir's song are being shared between a number of healthcare charities – including Carers UK and Mind – and a Twitter campaign (#NHS4XmasNo1) encouraging people to buy it has attracted support from the likes of Stephen Fry, Sadie Frost and Chris Evans.

Bethany appeared with the choir on Evans' BBC Radio 2 show this morning, singing the charity single live to around nine million listeners.

The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS choir was first seen on Gareth Malone's BBC2 show Sing While You Work, where they were narrowly beaten in the final.

Since then, the choir – which is made up entirely of NHS nurses, doctors, physios, midwives, porters, administrators and more – has gone from strength to strength, performing regularly for hospital patients and the local community, as well as singing in concerts across the UK.