Caravan girls pose for cheeky calendar – and a great cause

Twelve months of bare-it-all bravery by a group of friends at a Flintshire holiday park are set to swell the funds of the charity Breast Cancer Care.

The feisty females are the stripped-off stars of a 2019 calendar shot at Tree Tops Caravan Park, and which has already received advance orders worth over £2,000.

Ranging in age from 30-plus to over 70, the inspiration for putting the fun into fundraising came from two of the group who own holiday homes at the Holywell park.

Rachel Anchors and Wendy Wild said it was back in summer this year when they hit upon the idea of helping a good cause about which they both felt strongly.

“It seemed a bit daft at first, but when we started talking about our plans to others on the park, we soon found ourselves with a growing list of volunteers!” said Rachel.

“Breast cancer is a disease which affects so many women, and Breast Cancer Care does a wonderful job in providing expert information to anyone diagnosed with the illness.

“So after deciding that we’d go for it, we scouted around the park for different locations which we could use for each month of the year – and there were plenty!

“But the big challenge came when we had to decide who would take the photographs as obviously we wanted good quality images, but by somebody trustworthy.

“That’s when someone had the bright idea of asking a person we knew who ticked both boxes – and he was the owner of Tree Tops!” said Rachel.

Andy Walker, who runs the park alongside his parents Maureen and Harry, was known by the group to be a talented amateur photographer whose pictures feature on the park’s website.

Courageous caravanners

Andy agreed, and over the following months the courageous caravanners posed with their carefully placed props which ranged from tractors to balls of knitting wool.

It was, said Andy, a great success – despite the sometimes not over-friendly weather:

“The women were all fantastic to work with, and we had a lot of laughs along the way. I don’t think we’d have got anything like as good results even using professional models.

“They are all great characters, and I hope that something of their different individual personalities and sense of fun comes across in the photographs.

“I’m sure that everyone who buys the calendar will have their own favourite month!

“But, of course, there was also a serious motive behind their amazing bravery, and it’s great that they are helping to benefit a very worthwhile and important cause,” he added.

The initial print-run of the calendar has already had to be increased due to demand, and – until stocks run out – copies are available for £6.50 each.

The group has a JustGiving page and a Facebook page @CaravanGirls providing more information.