Clifton Calendar Girls

The Clifton Reynes 'calendar girls' have posed nude to raise money for breast cancer research....all in the best possible taste of course.

OlneyOnline asked one of the organisers, Valerie Clark how it came about:

Q) What was the inspiration for the calendar? 

A) "Glen Brearley and myself were sitting in The Robin Hood pub one night, after completing a 20 mile walk for Breast Cancer Care and  thinking of something else we could do when we came up with the Clifton Calendar idea.  It was just an idea at that stage.  When we returned to the pub the next day, everyone was talking about it and so we were compelled to continue."  
 
2) Why are you doing it?

"Glen lost her mother to breast cancer and a very good friend of mine has breast cancer and so this charity was our inspiration, to raise money to help find a cure for breast cancer which can affect both men and women".
 
3) How did you come by volunteers and was it easy?

"We emailed ladies in the village and put out a poster through doors to invite all the ladies to a meeting to discuss the initial stages and it was very disappointing as only a few ladies actually turned up.  After a second recruitment we managed to find enough ladies to shoot for each month, even though some dropped out.  At one point we thought we might cancel as it was becoming problematic but we soldiered on and eventually managed to  secure enough models."
 
4) Were there any highlights from taking the photos?

"There were some funny stories surrounding the shoots; i.e. workmen wolf whistling the ladies on the June shoot, they had to move location. The very brave Emma in May had to shoot in the middle of the field, completely naked with sheep watching, Niamh in October did her shoot at 4am in the morning in the river, freezing cold after just getting in from the night before, with all her make up still on..........December was our highlight, the lovely George Davies lent his tractor to us, turned the lights on full and we all had to strip off and run like crazy to get into the trailer......with straw embedded in our nether regions........"
 
5) What has the feedback been like?

"Most of the people in the village have been very positive about it and very supportive, they have been so generous with the auction prizes and our launch night was amazing, we raised over £6,000.  We have since been selling calendars any and everywhere and think we will be on for around £8,000, which is a huge amount of money to raise for a small village and we are very grateful.

The calendars are for sale at the Robin Hood pub, Clifton Reynes and in Olney at The Courtyard Brasserie, Lily T, Icetwice Gallery, Muchado and Derby House.  All proceeds are to breast cancer care, with the exception of 10% of the total which we are donating to the restoration of Clifton Reynes Church."