Dare to bare! Villagers from Burley in Wharfedale strip off for charity calendar

But a group of local lasses from leafy Burley in Wharfedale, near Leeds, have dared to bare all in a bid to fund a friend’s vital cancer treatment.

Following in the footsteps of the original Calendar Girls, 11 mums-turned-models stripped off to pose for a variety of cheeky photos around the village which will form the Darling Buds of Burley 2019 calendar.

Their daring photoshoot included the group donning nothing but flat caps to pose behind a traditional dry stone wall, cleaning a lorry and a shot in a local bed shop.

Sam Atkinson, 45, a fitness instructor whose idea it was to create the calendar said: “A friend suggested the idea to me which I initially thought was completely mad, but the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me.

“So I started suggesting it to other friends to see if they’d help.”

All proceeds will go towards helping 53-year-old Michael Hardisty, known to friends as Bud, who was given less than a year to live when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last November.

With the NHS only able to fund six months of his treatment, Michael found a centre in Istanbul which offers treatment that could extend the time he has with his wife Justine and two sons Joshua, 21, and William, 14.

The calendar has already raised £4,000 in sponsorship and is on sale next month.

The women who make up the Darling Buds of Burley are: Heather Lockwood, Business Development Manager; Tina Cook, Service Support Account Manager; Jo Lepelley, Marketing Officer; Sam Atkinson, Fitness Instructor; Elyse Shankland, Fitness Instructor; Melanie Lambert, Hospitality Executive; Amanda Lambert, Receptionist/ Activities Co-ordinator; Hayley Shaw, Corporate Business Travel Team Leader; Vicky Golding, owner of The Carriage bed shop and calendar sponsors; Jane Hardisty, Bud’s sister and cleaning business owner; Abi Hardisty; Emma Warriss, Nursery Practitioner.