Calendar girls bare all 10 years on
Angela Baker broke down as she spoke about her husband, John, whose death from lymphoma sparked the decision of 11 Rylstone Women’s Institute (WI) members to strip off for a calendar to raise money for leukaemia research in 2000.
Yesterday, six of the original women launched their first full colour calendar at Harvey Nicholls in Leeds, 10 years after their original set of images went on sale.
Speaking at the launch, Baker said: “Thank you to all the girls for supporting everything over the last 10 years and for all the money we have made for leukaemia research.
“I’m sure John Baker will be smiling, the sun is shining and he’ll be so pleased with what we’ve achieved.”
The 2010 calendar is the first to be shot in colour rather than sepia, and shows the six women taking part in traditional WI activities, such as gardening, baking and knitting.
All the women are pictured wearing little more than a set of pearls and a smile, and a sunflower – John Baker’s favourite flower – adorns each shot.
The women, who included Tricia Stewart, 60; Beryl Bamforth, 75; Lynda Logan, 65; Chris Clancy, 57; and Ros Fawcett, 59, laughed and joked as they shared their thoughts about making the new calendar.
The women have now raised around £2 million (about €2.2m) for Leukaemia Research.
