Calendar Girls has come to Malton – as a group of women have bared all for special fundraising calendar.
The charity calendar was created by Clare Fowler and Joanne Thornton, members of the Malton community group Never Forget.
The calendar is inspired by Emma Joanne Bottomley, who sadly passed away in 2019 aged only 26 after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The idea for the calendar originally came from Clare’s best friend, as Emma was her daughter in law’s sister.
“She’d said to me, if we ever do anything again we’re going to do Calendar Girls – that was the plan,” said Clare.
Unfortunately the plans had to be halted due to lockdown, and then sadly Clare’s friend passed away.
“I wanted to carry on what she wanted to do for Emma.”
Clare then met Joanne at the pub and shared her idea with her, who was immediately on board. At that time, Joanne’s mum had tragically passed away from breast cancer.
From there, Clare and Joanne needed more women to be involved in the calendar, so reached out to friends, shared on Facebook and asked around who might be interested in doing it.
“Thankfully, we got a lot of amazing girls that came quite happy to strip off the same as we did,” said Joanne.
“It was very interesting because we knew each other but not that well – we know each other a lot better now!”
The calendar has also received a lot of support from local businesses, with Clare expressing how important the local support has been.
“We knew we couldn’t do it without the support from local businesses,” she said. “We wanted to create a good calendar, not just a cheap throwaway item – we wanted it to be something proud on people’s walls.
“So we needed local businesses to get behind us and sponsor us, so we knew that when the calendar was produced that every bit of money from the sales would then go to the charities.”
Some of the calendar’s sponsors include Chapter Two, The Milton Rooms, Harrison Hire and Sales, Campbells of Malton, Marnie Jean Boutique Preloved Clothing, and Malton Enterprise Park.
All proceeds from the calendar will go to the charities York Against Cancer and St Catherine’s Hospice in Scarborough.
“St Catherine’s Hospice was where Emma actually was at the end of her life – so that was really important for us to do that.”
The calendar (£10) is available to buy from most shops in Malton town centre, as well as online via eBay. It can also be bought directly from Calendar Girls Malton by getting in touch on their Facebook or Instagram pages.
Clare and Joanne have dreams to take the project further than the calendar.
“We really, really want to put on the musical,” said Clare. “But a musical is really expensive to put on.
“We want this to be a community project – we want the whole community to get behind it. What we’re hoping for is that local businesses will sponsor the musical so that we can pay for the licensing fees, venue, directors, etc.
“If every business in the area sponsored the musical, it would be on very easily.”
To find out more about Calendar Girls Malton, visit their Facebook or Instagram pages.