Group snaps funds for charity with calendar
Amateur photographers take local pictures to raise cash
AGROUP of amateur photographers have raised more than £1,000 for a cancer charity by creating a calendar of local landscapes.
The group took photos of landscapes around Ramsbottom and Rossendale to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
After snapping pictures of landscapes and posting them on a local Facebook page the group decided to create their calendar for 2021.
Ramsbottom-based printing company, Orbital Designs, who produced the calendars, waived their normal fee reducing production costs which helped them sell out and raise £1,234.
Photos by Heather Ryder, Nick Snape, Phil Hill, Joao Duarte, Bill Jones, Colin Wilson and Margaret Lees are all included in the calendar, and some of the group have been supported by Macmillan in the past.
Park Farm Shop in Walmersley helped distribute the calendars.
Heather Ryder, whose husband Paul was helped by Macmillan after he was diagnosed with a rare form of pharyngeal cancer in 2018, came up with the idea of creating a calendar.
She said: “At the start of the year a lot of people from the
Ramsbottom area were unable to get out and spend quality time enjoying the incredible sights and views the area has to offer.
“So, to keep the love of our town alive, we set out with our cameras to snap some beautiful shots and post them on the ‘What’s on in Ramsbottom’ Facebook group. “The pictures proved so popular I decided to produce a cancer charity calendar for 2021, which sold out very quickly.”
The group are already planning a new calendar for 2022.
And Heather, who is a member of Bury Times Camera Club and Lancashire Amateur Photography Group, says the calendar’s success was unexpected.
She said: “Macmillan is a charity very close to my heart and I wanted to do something to cheer people up but also raise money for such a good cause.
“I didn’t fancy doing a run or baking, so I thought a charity calendar was a great alternative.
“But it was absolutely fantastic the way the calendar turned out and the response we had.
“I didn’t expect it to do so well but I was delighted it sold out and raised an incredible £1,234 for Macmillan to help people living with cancer.”