Playwright Tim Firth supports Burton Calendar Girls

Bethan Waite, one of the brave ladies in our calendar, took a trip to Frodsham Literature Festival where she had the good fortune to be introduced to Tim Firth - the award-winning writer of the play Calendar Girls.

Tim is patron of the festival, known as Weaver Words, and was more than happy to chat to Bethan about his play, Little Theatre Company's production of it in March 2013 and our current charity calendar project.

Bethan said: "I asked him, 'Please write more plays with such wonderful parts for women in' - and he said that was one of the reasons that he wrote Calendar Girls in the first place."

He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2003 film which starred Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.

Tim's own website is being very generous in its support for the hundreds of amateur productions of Calendar Girls going ahead in the coming 18 months.

The evening after Bethan met Tim and his wife, the Firths were going to the amateur premiere of Calendar Girls which took place in Grassington - the village where the real Womens' Institute did that first naked calendar.

He told Bethan that was definitely the ONLY production he would be going to see. His mother was due to appear in an amateur production, he revealed - but he wasn't even planning to watch that.

Tim did sign a couple of good luck messages for us which we'll add to the front of house displays when we stage the play next March. Meanwhile, remember to keep an eye on our How to Buy A Calendar page here to see how and where you can buy your own Burton Calendar Girls calendar for yourself, a friend or a relative as an unforgettable Christmas present.

A HUGE thank you

A few weeks ago I went with hubby Ken and one of our own calendar girls, Vicky, to see the touring production of Calendar Girls at Derby Assembly Rooms. As a group we'd all been to see the same production last July as our director John had wanted to get our confirmation that we were all game to do this production next March. It really is a wonderful production and I'd forgotten just how hilariously funny it is but has the ability to take you from laughter to poignancy in a heartbeat.

During one of our coffee meetings Elaine had posed the question did we think that if we put together a poster we could get the professional cast of Calendar Girls to sign it for us so that we could raffle it to make a little more money for the charity? Well my thoughts were that, if you don't ask, you don't get. So we put together a poster with a picture of our "robed" Calendar girls and at the last minute I decided to enclose one of our Calendars too, just so that hopefully they would see what a professional job we'd done and that the cast would sign it.

So, on the night we went to see the show I left the posters and calendar with the front of house staff and kept everything crossed. On the last night of the tour I received a phone call from the Tour Manager to say that the cast had indeed signed the poster, I was delighted. So my dear hubby tootled off to the Assembly Rooms to collect the envelope. What a great bunch the cast were! Not only did they sign the posters but they signed our calendar too! Such a wonderful surprise and we are truly appreciative of that gesture. So, at some point in the not too distant future we will indeed be raffling off now, not only a signed poster but also a signed copy of our calendar, now surely that has to be worth buying a ticket for.

We have so many events coming up in the near future so please keep checking the blog and spread the word.

Burton Calendar Girls to grace the House of Commons

Andrew Griffiths, the MP for Burton and Uttoxeter, is well-known for supporting good causes in the town so we were delighted when he 'tweeted' us to ask how he could help us sell our calendars and raise as much as possible for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

The result was a photocall outside The Brewhouse where our calendar pictures were shot on a theatrical theme, with as many as the girls as could make themselves available on a Friday afternoon.

Andrew was quick to buy a calendar - and add a donation, for which we are very grateful - and he PROMISES us that our calendar will be hanging on his office wall at the House of Commons throughout 2013!

Goodness me!

Huge thanks to Andrew, to Burton Mail photographer Simon Deacon who took the picture, and to the Burton Mail who have featured it on page three (where else?) of the newspaper tonight.

If you want to get your own copy of the calendar everyone is talking about - go to our How To Buy a Calendar page on this blog.

Remember, you can follow Burton Calendar Girls on Twitter here.

You can follow Andrew Griffiths MP on Twitter here.

New places to buy your Calendar Girl calendars

Thanks to all the Burton creatives who supported us by buying calendars at this week's meeting of Outline - a free networking group for those working or volunteering in the creative industries in and around East Staffordshire.

Guest speaker at the meeting was Alistair Kennedy of the Burton Creative Network - who is masterminding the PINT Contemporary Arts Festival which takes place in Burton Upon Trent during October and November.

Venues across the town, including 107 Station Street, the National Brewery Centre, and a number of pubs will host a range of events and exhibitions during the festival. The aim is to break down barriers and get the public involved with art that is honest, warm and unpretentious.

Performers will include Sinai Theatre - a new company featuring our own 'Miss April', Hannah Mason.

We are hugely grateful to Alistair for offering us the chance to boost the funds we raise for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research by selling our calendars at a Craft Fair and Artisan Market being held as part of the Pint Arts Festival in the pedestrianised part of Station Street on Saturday November 10.

Also at the Outline meeting was Anna Roebuck, who runs The Making House in Winshill - a gem of a place that is still a well-kept secret to many townspeople. The Making House, at 50 Bearwood Hill Road, hosts regular arts and crafts workshops and exhibitions and has a wonderful gift shop selling unusual and beautiful cards and gifts. Anna also runs Bags 2 Riches, a business making Fair Trade jewellery, lights and artwork created from recycled plastic bags. We are delighted that Anna has offered to stock our calendars in her gift shop which is open from 10am to 5pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

We will continue to update the page on this blog that lists all the places where you can buy a calendar.

Back to the Calendar Girl roots

As you will probably know, the Calendar Girls story began 13 years ago when the members of Rylstone and District Women's Institute decided to strip off for a charity calendar with a difference after the husband of one of the women died from leukaemia.

Since then they have raised an amazing £13 million.

We are thrilled to have been invited to speak to two local Womens' Institute groups - Egginton WI and Burton Belles WI - about our own journey.

Burton Belles held an open evening this week, when Elaine popped down to meet some of the ladies. It was extremely busy at the St John Ambulance HQ where they meet. But they still found time to buy a few calendars, and a few more will be on sale at their October meeting.

We are very happy to consider taking our calendars and a little stall to any events or meetings in and around Burton - although we don't have a budget to pay for stalls I'm afraid. But we'd be happy to send along a couple of the girls to give a talk. Get in touch on Twitter or via our Facebook Page if you are interested in having a Burton calendar Girl or two at your organisation or event.

Fund for Mel reaches £200,000

Congratulations to Burton Calendar Girls supporter Ian Leech who has seen the fund he and his family established in memory of daughter Mel - who died from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma - hit the £200,000 mark.

You may remember that Carol and Elaine recently met Ian - and got to hold the Olympic Torch he ran with through the streets of our home town - Burton-on-Trent.

Mel died in 2008 and since then Ian has worked closely with the Lymphoma Association - who gave his family such important support in the dark days of Mel's illness - raising both funds and greater awareness of Lymphoma.

The total raised through the Melissa Leech Lymphoma Association Tribute Fund currently stands at £20,823.

Read more about how this milestone in fundraising was reached here on the Burton Mail website.

You can find out more about Mel at the website Mad4Mel.

Burton Calendar Girls launch - a great success

We were thrilled with the success of our launch day - 10% of all our calendars were sold!

It was a busy, exciting and slightly exhausting day at The Brewhouse yesterday where we sold our calendars form 10 am to 10pm.

It was great to see so many people and chat to them about our project. Thanks for all the lovely messages of support we had on Facebook and Twitter from local businesses - and local figures such as our MP Andrew Griffiths and Lymphoma Association fundraiser Ian Leech.

We're now re-grouping and working out the best way to offer calendars for sale inbetween various special events we have planned.

We will be selling them throughout the week of Little Theatre Company's production of The Sound Of Music in November, and before that we'll also be selling them at local business networking groups that some of our Calendar Girls belong to - including Burton Business Club, the Burton Women In Business Network group and Women in Rural Enterprises.

Keep an eye on this blog for more information about how and where to get your copy of the calendar.

Meanwhile, do enjoy this behind-the-scenes video, with footage shot by Elaine Pritchard at our June photoshoot and edited by Tilley Bancroft of Red Door Studios.