Bulger CD to aid bullied children

Denise Fergus hopes the charity will change lives

The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger has helped launch a charity CD to raise money to protect children from being bullied.

Denise Fergus unveiled the cover version of Michael Jackson's Heal the World at a four-hour event in Liverpool city centre on Thursday afternoon.

It was one of her few public appearances since her son was killed by two 10-year-old boys in Bootle in 1993.

It will cost £1m to build James Bulger House, a centre for bullied children.

Mrs Fergus, 42, from Kirkby on Merseyside, said: "This is a first for me because I have never appeared in public before a big crowd before and I am a bit nervous.

Jackson approval

"But helping to raise funds and working to create this lasting memorial to James is something that has allowed me to write a new chapter in my life.

"I feel that I have turned a page and moved on in my life to create something that will benefit kids who really need help."

James Bulger House, which will be based in Liverpool, will be part of a network of Red Balloon Learner Centres, which support victims of bullying throughout the UK.

Children traumatised by bullying and reluctant to return to mainstream schools are helped by the centres.

Mrs Fergus added: "Red Balloon changes and saves lives and if James Bulger House can prevent the death of just one child it will be worth all the effort that has gone into it."

The cover version of Heal The World, approved by Michael Jackson shortly before he died in June, was also played at two-year-old James's funeral.

It was recorded by a group of Merseyside artists called Bulief and will be released on 2 November.

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, now aged 26, were convicted of the murder of James and released in 2001 after being held for eight years in children's detention centres.

They were given new identities and the media are banned from reporting their whereabouts.