Clothes off for good causes

A GROUP of women raised £6,500 for two charities with a calendar featuring tasteful naked pictures of themselves.

The women, who regulars at the Black Horse pub in Checkendon,sold 270 copies of the farming-themed calendar.

The presented £3,250 each to the Sobell House Hospice in Oxford and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Elizabeth Strange, from Didcot, came up with the idea in memory of her mother, Jane, who died of cancer at Sobell House in December, aged 64. The air ambulance helped her partner, Pete Holtom, following a serious accident last year.

Ms Strange, who works at Chandlers Farm Equipment in Checkendon, said: “I am so pleased and very grateful to those who have supported us, our sponsors, calendar customers, raffle prize contributors, calendar models and especially James Munn and his team at MMS in Henley who very kindly printed the calendar’s to a very high standard free of charge.

“It’s amazing how successful an idea that was conjured up around a pub table has been.”