WI calendar raises almost £1,700 for city cancer charity

L-R Seven Hills WI’s Kim (and her son Dex), Jen and Laura present the cheque to PACT dad Kevin Jacobs,
and PACT family Ellie Thompson, Lindsey Thompson, Josh Thompson and Carl Thompson. 

South Yorkshire's largest WI group has raised £1,690 for Sheffield cancer charity, the Parents’ Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia (PACT), through sales of their city landmark calendar.

Members from Seven Hills WI (SHWI) spent months creating the calendar which features them at some of Sheffield's best loved landmarks, including the Lyceum, Castle Market, the Botanical Gardens and Don Valley Stadium.

Local businesses sponsored the printing of the calendar so every penny of sales could be donated to PACT and the limited edition calendar was sold out in a matter of weeks.

Seven Hills WI chose to support PACT after the charity helped group President Lindsay Garfitt's four-year-old niece Isabelle Touhey who was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma, in July 2012. After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Isabelle is now doing well with no sign of the disease. 

The calendar project was organised by SHWI Secretary Kim Whelan and Vice President Jennifer Marsden and committee member Laura Bainbridge took the photos. The sum from the calendar takes the money raised over the year for PACT by Seven Hills WI to £2,746.

Jennifer, 32, said: “PACT is a fantastic charity and we are so pleased to be able to donate almost £1,700 which will be put to great use helping children with cancer and their families. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who bought a copy of our calendar and helped us to make this happen.”

PACT Vice Chair Robin Jeeps added: “It is great to have the support of Seven Hills WI; we thank the members for their donation which will help us to continue to provide support to children with cancer and their families.”

The SHWI 2014 charity calendar

Look how pretty it is! 

So, you’re interested in our lovely charity calendar? That’s great news!

We’ve spent the past few months creating the 2014 calendar which features our members at some of Sheffield's best loved landmarks, including the City Hall, the Leadmill, the Cutting Edge sculpture, the Lyceum and the Peace Gardens fountains, and we are really proud of the result!

The calendar is raising money for the Parents' Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia (PACT), a charity based at Sheffield Children's Hospital which supports families whose children have been diagnosed with cancer. We chose to support PACT this year after the charity helped our President Lindsay Garfitt's three-year-old niece Isabelle who was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma, in July 2012.

The calendar photography was done by SHWI member and talented photographer Laura Bainbridge and the cover design was done for free by Daniel Rose of DRD Studio. 

Local companies Apollo, BAPP, Beer Central, Boudoir, Dale Hirst, Exposed, Foster's Dental, Gregory's Haulage and Sheffield Signcraft also got on board to sponsor the printing of the calendar, meaning that every penny from sales can go to PACT.

One half of the Calendar Team, Jen and Kim 

The money bit

Each calendar costs just £10 and you can feel good knowing every penny is going to help children with cancer and their families.

If you’d like us to post your calendar to you, the cost is £12. The extra is to cover the envelope and postage.

The calendar is limited edition (and we've already sold more than half!) so if you want one, please act fast before they all go! Simply email us at sevenhillswi@live.co.uk with your name and how many calendars you’d like (plus your address if you want it posting) and we will reply with our bank details so you can transfer the money. Please ensure you use your name as the reference when making an online payment.

Your calendar will be posted via Royal Mail second class once payment is received. If you’d like to collect your calendar from us instead, please let us know when you email us. You can collect from the Chapeltown or Meersbrook areas or from Electric Works on our meeting nights (Thursday 21 November and Thursday 19 December from 7pm to 7.30pm). Please note if collecting, we must receive cleared payment beforehand (either bank transfer or cash on collection).