Stripping off again for charity
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN UNIVERSITY ROWERS BARE ALL FOR CHARITY CALENDAR
We reckon the best way to celebrate our 10th anniversary is to keep moving forward. We have produced our best ever calendar. Angus Malcolm
WARWICK University’s rowers are back – and once again they are baring all for their annual calendar.
The 2019 instalment sees the men’s team posing nude, in a series of tasteful shots, to raise money for the university boat club – and a worthy cause.
Since the first calendar in 2009, the rowers have attracted some celebrity fans, and have become popular in the LGBT community.
The rowers now donate a staggering six-figure sum to the charity each year – having come a long way from the £300 raised selling the first calendar. Speaking about how far the calendar has come in the 10 years and what to expect next, Angus Malcolm, producer of the Warwick Rowers calendar and LGBT rights activist, spoke to the Telegraph.
He said: “We are getting naked to make people more aware of how much our society is still run for the benefit of straight men, and also to say that men can be allies in changing that. Fortunately, at least in some places in the world, things are changing for the better. We want to be part of helping that change. We think people can see that, and that is why they have stuck with us.” The tenth anniversary is a big one for the club. They’ve come a long way since their first calendar and giving everyone a treat this year. On the calendar, there is a QR code which people can scan and see past years’ images. Angus said: “We reckon the best way we can celebrate our tenth anniversary is to keep moving forward.
“This is not the time to rest on our laurels. We have produced our best ever calendar, a fantastic book (our fourth!) and are introducing new subscriptions so that our supporters will receive new films and image downloads every month throughout 2019. We’re really upping our game, and we are incredibly excited about the future. This project and this message is bigger than one sports club at one university.
“We want sportsmen everywhere to become part of promoting better male mental health, greater gender equality and a world where everyone is supported equally to explore and enjoy their sexuality.”
This year is a first for the club, with a famous rowing face in the mix. The world’s fastest rower, Robbie Manson is at the centre of this year’s calendar.
Robbie is LGBT and contacted the club to say how much it meant to gay athletes like him that straight guys like us were standing up as allies for LGBT inclusion.
The impact and reputation of the calendar have definitely changed how guys approach the project.
In the early years of the calendar, the guys were much shyer, but that changed when we saw that we could make a serious social point through getting naked.