Cullercoats Calendar Girls raise over £1,400 for the RNLI
A group of women who are members of North Shields Polytechnic Athletics Club decided to create a 2017 calendar similar to the style of the original Calendar Girls. Their efforts raised a magnificent sum of £1,418.40 for Cullercoats Lifeboat.
The idea of doing a tastefully fashioned calendar with 8 friends getting together for some undressed photographs was the idea of Kate Dyson. Kate was the organiser and co-ordinator of the project and her planning had to be meticulous. All 12 photographs were taken during the summer of 2016 with some very early starts to have the photographs taken when there was no-one about.
Kate explained: ‘Our Christmas calendar photograph was a bit surreal. It was photographed in the middle of June which was one of the hottest days of the year and the house we were being photographed was fully decorated as if it were Christmas Day. I’d also like to thank Kimberly Cockburn for her time and effort who volunteered to take the photographs for the calendar.’
The 8 women who were involved with the calendar are all local to the coast and are members of Cullercoats Open Water Swimmers (COWS). They frequently swim in and around Cullercoats Bay and are always mindful of safety in the sea and when they swim they aware of the RNLI’s “Respect the Water” campaign.
Heather Gould a member of COWS added: ‘We all had a great time having the photographs taken even though it meant sometimes getting up at 4am. As we are all open water swimmers we are very much aware the great work all the volunteers at Cullercoats RNLI do. That’s why we decided as a group to donate the profits from the calendar to our local lifeboat station.’
Ben Bradshaw, Helmsman at Cullercoats RNLI commented: ‘This donation is gratefully received, the funds raised will fully kit a volunteer crew member. Everyone at the station appreciates all the efforts of the group who helped produce the 2017 calendar. Without donations like this, our volunteer crew would be unable to carry on saving lives at sea.'
Photo: Courtesy Michael Scott RNLI Cullercoats.
RNLI Media Contacts: For more information please telephone Michael Scott, volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07906 632598 or Alison Levett, RNLI Public Relations Manger North 07786 668912 or [email protected] or contact RNLI Public Relations 01202 336789
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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