An estate agent working in Ealing has launched a music video and song that mixes football and Christmas in a serious bid to get into the charts this festive season.

The idea is the brainchild of Marco Helliwell (pictured) and friends who online are known as The Half Timers, and who have penned a song called Coming Home for Christmas to raise funds for FareShareUK which helps fight food poverty and tackle food waste.

Helliwell originally came up with the idea after spending many nights singing to his one-year-old daughter to get her to sleep and soon realised he was getting quite good at lyrics. She opens the video.

On Youtube the video has already gathered 1,500 views, the song 7,000+ streams on Spotify and other music platforms and over 40 comments. It is a co-production between Helliwell and Emmett Glyn, features 17 friends from West London and music by Emmet Glynn, Henry Lawry, Jamie Beaumont.

The video takes its musical cues from the Three Lions chart topper by the Lighting Seeds and comedians Newman and Badiel, including a lavish sprinkingling of England football tops.

Lifelong goal

Helliwell adds: “It’s a lifelong goal for so many of us to see England lift the World Cup. If I can bring some festive football cheer to the nation as we follow our amazing team to victory and help feed thousands of children along the way then hopefully I can show that to my daughter one day and make her proud.”

The agent has a long-standing passion for performing and studied drama at university and was in a comedy ‘boy band’ with friends called ‘The Top Shelf Boys’.

But he says it wasn’t until his daughter Mila was born last year that he really found his voice. Singing to baby Mila to sleep every night helped Marco practice his vocal range and hone his lyic-writing skills.

The local branch of Barnard Marcus claims Helliwell as a team member, but until very recently he ran his own and eponymous estate agency and property consultancy, MyPropertyAdvice.com.

Watch the video