CF Mums Calendar 2010

Quick slideshow for the Calendar

2009-10-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Amanda's Story (Miss October)

2009-10-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

This is a story Amanda wrote on "Being a mum to a child with Cystic Fibrosis" - summarising the reason why 14 women stripped, despite being terrified of doing so because at the end of the day, who wants to flash off their wobbly bits, their stretch marks, there everything they don't like about themselves, to a bunch of strangers?! We want to see a cure for Cystic Fibrosis - that's why. Read on:

Every day is a different day.....you hold your breath and curl your toes each time your child coughs, hoping and praying that it's not the start of something worse.

Like any parent of any child,you sit up at night when they're sick with a fever,but amplify this by holding a nebuliser mouth piece to a snoozing or coughing child while you sit and stare sleepily into space,thinking. While the rest of the world sleeps,some tiptoe quietly into their child's bedroom to infuse a 12.00am IV treatment.

Most parents kiss their children goodnight after reading a storybook and supervising teeth brushing,while parents of a child with CF have to hook up nightly tube feeding equipment just to ensure their child is properly nourished....Thank God,not me yet. This is of course after nightly physio treatment and heaps of medicine.

From the moment your precious child is diagnosed you learn how to operate on less sleep. Every waking moment your mind is filled with the implications of CF and at night you lie awake wondering what the future holds.
You learn how to analyse the minute details of the contents of a sputum pot,nervously checking for flecks of blood. You grit your teeth if you hear your child cough up what sounds like tons of gunk,to find that they have spat it into the sink and washed it down before you could check it or indeed get a sterile pot in time!

A parent of a child with CF will rejoice at each and every inch attained in height and every pound gained in weight-and cry at every ounce lost. School age children take tests in school,our kids do too,but they also take blood tests,sputum tests and pulmonary function tests-some have bone density tests as well. All school children have photos taken at each year,so do our kids,but they also have a photo taken of their deteriorating lungs and sometimes their sinuses and intestines too. Most will also have to endure finger pricks if CF related Diabetes is present. We aren't lucky enough just to have a simple grading system of A to E,we also have to figure out what numbers best apply to our child and hope that human error when calculating the Schwachman score won't cost us an extra stay in hospital or the dreaded news that our child is now resistant to a certain antibiotic or their lungs colonised with bacteria.

You soon learn how to hide enzymes in the foods of faddy eating infants or tots and applaud them when they learn to swallow enzyme capsule whole. You learn to read food labels to find foods with the highest calorie and fat content. You learn that healthy eating is not the key. CALORIES CALORIES and more CALORIES.and god forbid you get their creon wrong,as if your child does not have enough to deal with,too little creon means excruciating pain,stomach cramps and diarrhoea. Too much,well you can't win,more diarrhoea and a burnt bottom.

Anytime a Certified Freight lorry goes by,you get a lump in your throat. Damn those big red and green CF initials anyway.....aren't we allowed to forget for just one minute?
But on the other hand you become a more compassionate,empathetic and patient person. Despite trials,you have the opportunity to attain the golden awareness that everything you say,everything you do or don't do-really make a difference to the life of your child. EVERY MOMENT IS PRECIOUS. Even the smelly moments......

Being a parent to a child with CF enables you to develop an inquisitive and scientific mind scooping out info about genes,cells,organisms,herbs and treatments. Even though I wasn't good at science as a child,just look at what I know now!

You learn to be gracious and tactful even when you don't want to be,like when a stranger or a cashier at Asda comments on your child's cold or when another mother tries to give advice on what "healthy" foods your child should be eating instead of calorie laden,high fat rubbish......

You learn to be assertive so the doctors and medical staff will listen,i mean really listen to what it is both you and your child needs,because they are not gods or mind readers....there is NOTHING like a mothers intuition.

Almost every parent sleeps with one ear attuned to the littlest sound but most parents of a child with CF also listen for absence of sound,"Is she still breathing,why isn't she coughing?"
Sometimes on the other hand you find yourself doing a load of laundry late at night after your child has coughed so much they've finally vomited over you,themselves and their sheets and duvet,or night sweats have soaked everything.

In the beginning,you wonder,"Is this something I should call the CF team at the hospital to report?" Then you learn to trust your instincts-you know deep down when a doctor is really needed and you want to be able to go straight to the top instead of dealing with a receptionist when it is necessary.

As a parent of a child with CF your spelling and vocabulary improves dramatically. While other mothers minds are turning to mush from "Barney" and "Tweenies" you're learning to pronounce and spell words like "Pseudomonas" You seem to get a crash course in physiology and biology. You learn very quickly about clubbed fingers,oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange,and the role of the pancreas....

You ignore the jibes of your friends who think you are obsessive compulsive because you constantly wash your hands and bleach your kitchen and bathroom numerous times a day. You begin to resent the fact that you have to remind the medical team to wash their hands before touching your child or the things in her hospital room.

You silently seethe when other parents send their kids to school sniffling;their noses caked in green crud. You buddy up to the school secretary so that when your child wakes up poorly again she doesn't get tired of you calling and asking "So.....Just what IS going around the school right now?"

You teach your child to share from a very young age but stand aghast when your daughter willingly shares her beaker of water with a child with a cold. Sometimes it feels as though you're in a 3 ring circus. You juggle and balance home,work and hospital appointments. You often walk a tightrope of emotions;you're in a lions cage facing your child's health issues and limited life expectancy. And,even though you try not to push the envelope on the words "Hope" and "Cure"-they are ALWAYS in your heart.

Abigail....pictured with the "Growing Hope" rose.

My naked calendar shot......65 Roses were hiding my blushes!

National Publicity

2009-10-13T02:54:00.001-07:00

The media interest in the CF Mum's Calendar has been really exciting, leading to much needed awareness and hopefully more sales of the Calendar.
Some of the ladies on the Calendar have sought local publicity before the release of the Calendar to try and raise Sponsorship and have now gone back to the same newspapers for more publicity since the Calendar Launch Evening. They have had some really good write up's and one even had front page spread through her local paper - which generated a couple of orders. I wish I knew how to do links on here to them, but will learn eventually no doubt!

Some up and coming publicity will be through the Sunday People magazine's supplement "Take it Easy", which should hopefully be in this Sunday's paper (18th October), or so I've been advised, so keep a look out for that.
Then there will be a feature in the Winter Edition of Chat magazine which will be on the shelves from 5th November. These stories are predominately about me and my family and fundraising, but leading on to the Calendar and where to buy, which is excellent news. Not sure of the readership of Chat, but have been advised that over 3 million read the Sunday People, so that's excellent coverage. The Chat magazine will be on the shelves for a month so hopefully that will generate some interest - nice to have that in leading up to Christmas when folks are looking at buying their Calendars for Christmas presents.

We are keeping fingers crossed that the Calendar will feature on the Channel 4 programme "How to Look Good Naked" also. They have been in touch and pictures from the Calendar have been supplied. We were advised that there will be a link to the CF Trust website on their website with a picture they choose and one or two of the images will be on their programme hopefully on 20th October, so look out for that also!

Here's hoping that all this publicity will lead to us being able to sell out of the Calendar and reach our target eventually of £10,000. Progressing towards that slowly but surely at the moment!

More news to follow ..... !!!

The Launch Evening

2009-10-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Well, what a night!! There was me worried that I hadn't done enough, but I was so wrong! We started with a Drinks Reception at 7 pm and while that was going on Allie, myself and hubby, along with Shane from S&L Entertainment who provided the disco, were trying to work out how to get the slideshow to work via Allie's laptop. Cue panic! It was a key part of the night so it had to be right. Heave a massive sigh of relief when it was eventually solved. Time to invite the guests to take their seats. We got straight on to speeches so we could get the night underway as planned, much to the disgust of those already queuing at the bar!! Dawn Osko Steer, Regional Fundraising Manager for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust started with a thank you speech and then presentation of an Award for Special Fundraising to Allie and myself and a bouquet of flowers for me from the CF Trust. Then I waffled my way through a thank you speech - hate talking in public, so it was all typed out and read aloud so I didn't forget anything. Then I presented a bouquet and gift to Allie for all her hard work on Photography/Design from me and the CF mum's. Now it was time for the slideshow (on blog below) and all clapped and whistled and cheered their way through, mingled in with some tears seeing their child/ren on the slideshow. Everyone was really excited to see the Calendar images as they had only approved their own so it was time to see all the images together for the first time. Once that was over it was time to unveil the Calendar itself - each mum on the Calendar was giving a complimentary copy. Next was a presentation of a bouquet of flowers for each of the mum's on the Calendar from me along with a thank you card, and then they presented me with a large bouquet! It was flowers galore and they were all lovely - mine are still going strong and make the lounge smell lovely.

We had entertainment provided by Michael Hinch and S & L Entertainments (wish I knew how to do Blog links!) - enjoyed by all right up until the end of the night!

Here's a little slideshow I put together of the Launch night:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had a raffle and auction on the night aswell and raised just over £2000, which is great news as we nearly have enough to pay for the printing costs now.

A great night was had by all and many hangovers were had the next day - which went to prove what a great night was had! More news on the Calendar to follow on next Blog when my eye's are not so tired!

Slideshow for CF Mum's Calendar

2009-09-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Full update on the Launch Evening to follow, in the meantime, here is the slideshow put together to help promote the CF Mum's Calendar featuring the children of the mum's involved on the Calendar, a bit of the photo shoot footage and then the Calendar itself.

The Calendars have Arrived!!!

2009-09-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

Woooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! Wasn't expecting them to be delivered until Monday, but got a nice surprise when white van man turned up yesterday afternoon asking if I'd ordered any Calendars! Oh yes please, drag them in!! I now have several boxes of them piled up in my lounge next to a pile of envelopes. It's that time of year when my Lounge is no longer my own - more like a Calendar shop!!! Keeps Joe happy though as he's made a "den" out of them!!

Rang Allie, Photographer and Designer, and she hot footed it over here in 22 minutes flat to pick up a copy!! We are both pleased with the Calendar, more than pleased. Four months of planning, pictures, design and now final print - nice to see the end job come together nicely.

All looking good - lovely bright pictures on glossy paper, and that's all I'm saying for now! I know folks are desperate to see it, but it's only 6 more days to go and then the world will be seeing me in my glory and 13 other CF Mum's also - well, not quite all, but bits of all!!

Here's hoping we can achieve our target of £10,000. We intend on putting any monies received through publications to printing costs and any money raised on the night of the Launch Evening from raffle and mini auction will also be ploughed into printing. We need to find about £2000 in order to allow us to donate 100% to the CF Trust, hopefully we can do that with little effort judging by the response from media interest already - fingers crossed!! However, we are still on target to raise over £6000 if we sell the intially 1000 copies I've ordered, and judging by responses from the mum's on the Calendar and interest, I don't think we'll have any problem in selling out quickly, which will be fabulous!

Here's a little picture of the Calendars, the best is yet to come!!!

Where we are now....

2009-08-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

.... no where really!! Got back from holiday to find that Allie had received the first proof from the Printer, but there were a few errors, so now waiting for 2nd proof to arrive before giving the go-ahead to print. Am getting a bit anxious now that time is plodding on and we don't have a Calendar yet. (I do tend to over whittle when things don't go smoothly anyway, so no need for panic just yet!) Only 3 weeks on Friday to the Launch Evening so I hope the 2nd proof proves to be acceptable so we can plod on to printing, then I'll heave a huge sigh of relief.

Once the boys go back to school this week (hurraayyyy!), I'll be contacting media in earnest to see if they will help publicise the Calendar and also attend the Launch Evening. Already contacted a couple of local one's I deal with, but will be going further afield.

The good news is that a Freelance Journalist recommended by the CF Trust has been in touch and she is keen on getting a story in Chat or Pick Me Up magazine for the Winter or Christmas Edition - the magazine will be on the shelves for a month so that will be excellent coverage for the Calendar. She is also going to try and get a national newspaper to run a story in the lead up to Christmas.

Need to get lot's of things sorted for the Launch Evening this week - waiting to hear from the Regional Fundraising Manager for the CF Trust to arrange to meet at the Hotel with the Events Organiser there to run over the programme for the evening and what we will be needing - hoping they will allow us to use their projector. We will be having 12 tables set up, but judging by response to tickets so far, I don't think we'll be needing that many - we'll see though, time will tell. I'd like the room to look as good as it can on a budget of zilch! Won't cost much to get some sprinkles and blow some CF balloons up to add a bit of colour. We'll be having a raffle to raise a bit of money which we might use towards printing costs - if we can get a few bigger prizes we could use do a small auction - always searching for ways of dragging in a bit more money!!

Here's a little slideshow I put together for the Calendar - just waiting for a few more pictures of the children, and pictures from the Calendar to add, then it's finished.

Hopefully next time I Blog, I'll beable to say that the Calendar has gone to print!!!

Another Update

2009-08-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Where are we now with the CF Mum's Calendar?

Well, since my last Blog the Printer has been selected from my pile and it should have gone to print on Friday, but unfortunately, it was sent in the wrong format so we are just waiting for the Designer to return from holiday to correct that. It's no problem as there is no rush at the moment. As long as it is ready for 25th September for the Launch Evening, which we are on schedule for as it takes approximately 2 weeks to print, possibly less time as we are not having as many Calendars as we have done for the past 2 years (2500) basically because we don't have the Sponsorship in hand to allow us to outlay on so many Calendars.

I have opted to stick with the same Printer who have done a good job for me over the past couple of years as I tend to be a creature of habit and stick with those who I trust. (Colourstream in Derbyshire) I presented them with the cheapest quote I had been given and they matched it. The don't demand payment up front, like some Printers were doing, so that gives us time to get on with selling Calendars to foot the bill for payment, or I will pay for the printing costs and reimburse. We hope to make over £6000 initially by selling the first 1000 Calendars.

Next I need to push for publicity - and I know that some of the mum's on the Calendar have already saught local publicity seeking Sponsorship for the Calendar, but am trying to get national publicity for this Calendar. This might prove to be a challenge, and anyone who knows me knows that I like a challenge(!), as this is not a unique idea, but one can live in hope that someone will grab the story and make something of it to give us a chance of gaining more awareness and sales for the Calendar. It would be fantastic to sell out quickly so we can buy another 1000. All hands will be on deck to push once we have the Calendar in our hands, although it won't actually be sent out to buyers until after the Launch Evening on 25th September. Pre-orders are being taken NOW!!! You won't be disappointed with the content, believe me. It has been tastefully done throughout and has gained the approval of the CF Trust, so it can't be that bad! Once you see it, you will be talking about it FOR A VERY LONG TIME!!

We have also had 500 Calendar envelopes donated by my good friend from school via her Company, so that is another bonus (Board Envelopes in Newark).

I hope we can raise £10,000 for the CF Trust through this venture - it is always a figure I seek so here's hoping it will be possible! This will be the ONE AND ONLY TIME YOU WILL SEE ME SEMI-NAKED!! (not a pretty sight to some, but hey ho - such is life!!)

Here's a little slideshow I put together to help promote the Calendar - a sneaky peak, but nothing more than that! IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT IS INSIDE (AND BELIEVE ME IT IS EXCELLENT!) YOU HAVE TO BUY A COPY - OR MORE!!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Design Finished!

2009-08-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

The CF Mum's Calendar design is now finished, apart from one line of wording the CF Trust have requested be added on to one page. The Trust have approved the Calendar layout so we are now ready to go to Print.
Am in a quandary as to who to use though!! I have printing quotes coming out of my ears.... well not literally, but I have quite a few! Have touted for the best possible price and we are obviously going to go with the cheapest! However, we still have no Sponsor so am unsure as to whether to wait a week or so to see if one pops out of a hat (!) or to just to go print and deal with the payment when the bill arrives!! I can either hope that a Sponsor comes along, which would be fantastic and would allow us to donate 100% to the CF Trust, or I can foot the bill myself and just donate the profits to the Charity. Judging by the quotes I have, I would estimate being able to donate approximately 80% of the proceeds if we get no Sponsor. I can't afford to outlay the monies and not reimburse at this moment in time, but I know we will still sell them.
Ordering 1000 initially to gauge interest and if they sell quickly, we'll order another 1000. I just don't want to be left with a cupboard full, as in previous years. Waste is no good - we want to beable to sell them all.
We hope to raise £10,000 in total - who knows if that is possible, but together we will definitely do our best!! Once the Calendar goes to print we can all heave a sign of relief and relax until selling time!!
The cover has been released to make up the Poster and link for the Order Form on the boys website, but the inside will remain TOP SECRET until after the Launch Evening on 25th September. Taking pre-orders NOW, so log on and buy!!

Here is the cover image for a peak, for now!!

Calendar Launch Evening

2009-07-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here is the poster designed by Paul at 121pics.com for the Launch Evening for the Calendar - more work to be done on the evening plan, but haven't looked into it too much yet while design and printing issues are still pending. Hopefully all will be ready by then or else it will just turn into a disco and raffle evening!!

Another Update

2009-07-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

At the moment the Calendar is being designed. I haven't had chance to catch up with Allie or Dawn this week as Dan has been struck down by a lurgie germie - no idea if it was Swine Flu or not, but the CF Team and GP were taking no chances with him due to his current lung function level, so he was put on Tamiflu, but that's another story!!

I've sent some information to Allie to be plodding on with for now with idea's for each page title, who is to be on what month (some are set months, some are changeable), along with names of children and ages.

Now I'm touting for the cheapest printing quote, and each quote is proving to be more and more shocking!! No-one seems to want to help Charities these days - I suppose they are all struggling to stay afloat.

We have come up against a brick wall with Sponsorship, so once we have decided on final layout for the Calendar, whether it be A4 or A3 of fold down, and we have a reasonable quote, the CF Mum's will Sponsor the Calendar between them. This might prove tricky for some, but hopefully we can overcome that. We could maybe Sponsor a page no matter who is on it. This could prove to be a bit tricky, but at this stage, we have to come up with something as this year I can't afford to Sponsor it all myself.

No fundraising job is simple, but with a bit of work, it's usually do'able!!

The Story so Far!

2009-07-08T02:19:00.000-07:00

The editing of the pictures was completed on Monday 29th June and a code to the pictures sent to the CF Trust for approval to use the photographs alongside the branded Cystic Fibrosis Trust merchandise - overseeing these pictures was Sarah Guthrie, Director of Fundraising, and Rosie Barnes, Chief Executive.

After a nail bitingly suspenseful week of waiting we finally had an e-mail on Monday 5th July. The Trust were happy for us to use the pictures with a few constructive comments on a few pictures, which were passed on to Allie to rectify.

(It was decided to seek the Trust's approval first before showing the ladies the pictures as there was no point in going any further if the Trust were not happy).

Then Allie set up a separate code for each lady to view their respective pictures ...... jeez, I thought the hard work was going to come directly from the Trust - WRONG!! Out of 14 ladies there are only 3 who were unreservedly happy - no comments other than "I love them". Still, I suppose what we see through our eye's are not what others see. I see nothing wrong with any of them - they are all lovely pictures - colourful, tasteful and informative in every way.

We must not forget why we did this Calendar - I know looking at ourselves naked with only little covering is not something we comfortably do, but we did it for our children - that was the whole idea. We have to draw away from the imperfections we see in ourselves and concentrate on the reasons - the need to raise more awareness, to drag in more monies - to help fund Research which only the Cystic Fibrosis Trust carry out - so that one day our children can live full and long lives.

Allie has touched up each photograph to enhance as much as possible the beauty of each lady and there is not much else she can do now without making the person on that photograph look nothing like the original woman on it!! It is not a "perfect CF Mum's" Calendar - we are all shapes and sizes - WE ARE MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS. It's not a Calendar for dolly birds - as much as we'd all like to look like one!

Next stage is to sit down and talk about design of each page - work out who is going on what page, which will be depicted by the fundraising materials used on that month. We need to get all the wording sorted, decide which style of Calendar would look better and get a bit of CF advertising sorted.

Allie, Dawn (Regional Fundraising Manager) and myself are meeting on Wednesday 15th July to talk through the next stage.

Have feelers out with several people on printing costs and am still touting for Sponsorship, but if it comes down to it and no Sponsorship can be found, then I'll sponsor it myself, which will mean that only profits will be donated to the CF Trust and I will reimburse printing costs back to me. I can't afford to outlay the monies, but I can "borrow" to get us underway.

For now, the Calendar is remaining as "secret" as it can and each lady is aware of that. Once we have presented the Calendar to media and it goes on sale, then we'll show a little bit more! I intend on putting together a slideshow of the photo shoot day to show at the Launch of the Calendar.

We also have a Calendar Launch Evening lined up - 25th September, which all the CF Mum's who took part can meet up socially and fetch some family and friends with them to present the Calendar to media and to have a chance to chat and dance the night away - more information about that to follow once I get some tickets designed.

For now, no more news, but will keep this Blog as up to date as I can with further information.

Photo Shoot!!!

2009-06-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

I'm rubbish at keeping Blogs up to date these days! Must try and make an effort to update a bit more often, but life gets in the way!!

Yesterday was photo shoot day at Kiddicare.com in Peterborough. What a great day!!

Allie and I arrived at Kiddicare at about 10.30 am laden down with various CF Trust fundraising items to utilise as "cover" for the ladies for various months poses. We quickly unloaded, with the help of Allie's hubby, Chris. As there was only myself, Allie and Chris there (although he was strategically hidden in the back behind a curtain!!), we decided to do my shot first. OH MY GOD!!! Now one is just not used to taking one's clothes off in public, even if it is in front of a woman (erm, hope that doesn't sound dodgy or anything!). As my mouth was throbbing painfully and jaw from a tooth infection, I wasn't feeling particularly happy so found it hard to summon up a smile and I did feel really uncomfortable. I mean, how can you relax when your sat there with nothing on trying to look like you are relaxed whilst keeping as much covered as you can with your arms?! Anyway, turned out that my shot wasn't too good because I looked "miserable"!! Re-take for that later!

Throughout the morning the ladies arrived gradually and we worked our way through each month shot stage by stage. The ladies had dressing gowns with them so they could leave them on right up until the last minute when Allie was ready to take the picture. I've not seen dressing gowns dragged back on as quickly as they were yesterday!!! We had nibbles of crisps and drinks and cakes to work our way through whilst standing around watching the next lady do her pose. A round of applause and cheers and praise were given to each lady once her shot was done.

Some ladies were more nervous than others, but by the end of the shoot all were feeling pretty good about themselves - knowing they had done something daring which many would not contemplate doing all for our children.

I must say that Paula and Vannessa added to the day in a big way with their comical moments!! Paula, well, what can I say?! True star! Vannessa, for someone who didn't have much confidence, you certainly made me laugh!! One little story, as a sneaky peak:

Allie lines up 6 ladies to hold something long in front of them (!). One of those ladies is Vannessa. A couple of the ladies are rather nervous so Allie assures them that she can't see a thing only legs and shoulders. Vannessa say's "Well I can see loads from behind here"!!! That broke the ice - the ladies relaxed, they laughed - EXCELLENT SHOT!!!

It was lovely to meet up with so many other CF mum's. I wish we'd had more time to actually sit down and chat together. There wasn't time to have a good natter. Some ladies had trains to catch and others had to get back to relieve babysitters.

Altogether it was a very positive day - we had a laugh, we got to meet other CF mum's and I've noticed that they have added each other as friends on Facebook now to keep in touch - excellent!

We have to wait up to two weeks to view the proofs from yesterday. Allie will be busy doing any editing on the pictures to make sure they are of the utmost quality before we send them to the CF Trust to approve. We need their approval before we can print them as we used their CF fundraising branded materials on the Calendar. Fingers crossed that they approve!! It is vital that they approve it in order to gain their backing.

Once we have the pictures each lady on the Calendar will be given a secret code so they can also approve their pictures before we go to design and print. No good printing out a Calendar and then one lady saying they hated their picture!!

We intend on keeping the Calendar under wraps and secret for as long as we can which is why we are only showing one robed picture as proof that we did get there and we did do it. You have to buy one if you want to see the rest of it!!!!!!

Here's the candid shot from the day I've put on Facebook:

Kiddicare.com are doing a Blog about the day and I've asked them to just use this picture aswell. They did take one of Allie taking a picture of one of the ladies, but I think that gives too much away and I'm giving nothing away just yet until all approve it!!

Next mission is to find a Sponsor! We need someone to Sponsor the cost of printing the Calendar or a kind Printer who will print it for nothing so that we can donate 100% of the proceeds to the CF Trust. If anyone knows anyone who can help, let me know please.

More updates to follow as soon as I have more news to Blog!!!

Meeting Date

2009-06-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

Date set for meeting with my Regional Fundraising Manager and Allie, Photographer, for Monday 8th June. We hope to draft down some idea's for page layouts, usage of CF fundraising materials and best way to publicise it.

We already have several idea's, but need to confirm each idea so that we know what we are doing on the day.

I've been busy e-mailing a few day time TV programmes to see if they will do a feature on the Calendar, but don't hold out too much hope as I've been down this route several times before. This idea has obviously been done before several times after the original Calendar Girls created theirs 10 years ago so it's not "new news". We'll see anyway. Can but try!

I'll target some national magazines next - one step at a time for the moment.

Hoping to maybe video as much of the day as we can from ladies buzzing about getting nervous, excited etc to photograph shoots - no nuddy bits on show though! Just an idea to keep to remember the day and maybe help to publicise it a bit more.

Just over two weeks to go! Oh my god. I'm thinking I'd rather jump out of an aeroplane again than expose my flabby bits and stretch marks, but am not the only one thinking that! Together hopefully we'll have fun, encourage each other and remind each other of why we are doing it - for our children and for their future.

Here's a little poster the boys Webmaster has thrown together for me to add on to their website so folks know another Calendar is pending.

I hope we can make £10,000 with this Calendar - we'll see!!

An Update

2009-05-31T06:28:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I've lost control of my Facebook Groups after I deactivated my account last week. I've done it before when "overload" kicks in and usually gain control within a couple of days of my Groups, but 11 days later, I still have no control - my own fault I know! So I'll try and keep up this Blog as up to date as I can for all the ladies who are interested in coming along to support this Calendar.

Am busy arranging a mutually convenient date to meet up with the Photographer and Regional Fundraising Manager for the CF Trust so we can talk about the best way to organise the day. Idea's for picture layouts and how to best publicise it once it is designed and printed. Hopefully sometime within the next week that will happen.

Once we've sussed out the layout of the Calendar, how to best present the pages and organise the ladies, then we'll have more of an idea of how the day will run.

Have no idea 100% of how many ladies will turn up - hopefully all the "yay's" from the Event Group (I can't access that at all now as I set it to "invite only"!).

If there is room in the Studio we could organise a little "buffet" between us whereby I would ask all ladies attending to fetch a little something like crisps, sausage rolls, little sandwiches etc, but need to suss that out first. For anyone not driving I may lay out a couple of boxes of wine - help calm the nerves!!

I intend on exhausting all avenue's for publicity for this Calendar and have an e-mail in to the Publicity Officer for the CF Trust to ask her advice/opinions on best routes to follow and story idea's.

Getting a "Coming Soon" poster drafted up also to help publicise the Calendar for all ladies on Facebook. Watch this space! Will update this Blog in the week after I've had a meeting with the ladies.

A New Project!

2009-05-14T10:30:00.005-07:00

I have set this Blog up to jot down information from time to time about the planned "Calendar Girls" style Calendar currently being planned featuring mothers of children with Cystic Fibrosis to raise awareness and monies for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

From a Group set up on Facebook there was a lot of initial interest, which astounded me as I initially thought I would struggle to get together a team of ladies who would be interested in donning their clothing to put together this Calendar. How wrong was I!! At last count we were fast approaching 30 ladies who were definitely interested, one or two rather hesitant to begin with, but soon decided that they would like to take part after a bit of friendly persuasion!

I have managed to speak to Allie today, the female Photographer lined up to do the photo shoot, and we have set a date of 18th June to get the photographs done. Allie is the wife of the Photographer I had at the recent Barnes Boys Charity Ball (http://www.chrysalisphotography.net). Location will be in Yaxley, Peterborough, where Chrysalis have a Studio. Definite location to be advised with postcode etc, but have been told it is in a big Studio which has a lounge area and a shopping area with a cafe and shops - ideal!!

It's going to be so much fun!! I know it's not something we all do on a regular basis, (erm, if at all!!) strip for photographs, but how fantastic are we all going to feel afterwards?! We will be oozing confidence. The pictures will be fantastic. We have lot's of idea's. At the moment we are looking at possible black and white shot's of the ladies with CF related fundraising materials covering up certain area's and they will be in colour - highlighting CF foremost. We'll make sure we have plenty of buckets, collection tins, balloons, banners etc. We can show as much or as little as possible (still no ruddy bits!!).

Ladies can still wear their undies if they don't feel 100% confident about shedding them. We can hide bra straps by shuffling them down, we can hide knickers by putting a bucket in front of them or strategically placing a chair in front.

Ladies will be asked to fetch a robe with them so they can keep it on until the very last minute - some may be confident enough to not bother with one, but I'll be snuggled into mine right up until the last second and then it will be swiftly back on again!!

It doesn't matter is you are thin or fat, tall or small, blonde or dark, have stetch marks, rolls of anything, we've all got a degree of something we don't like about our bodies, and after children, there are lot's of things you could count!! At the end of the day this is a Calendar soley comprising MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE CYSTIC FIBROSIS - we are doing this for our children, we hope to make it fun, you will enjoy it, you will be proud of yourself, you will ooze confidence once the pictures become public - YOU WILL HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE. What is 30 minutes sitting for a lovely picture out of your life compared with a life time of living with Cystic Fibrosis?!

And on that note, I shall leave this Blog for today and come back soon with more information when I can.

Look forward to seeing those who are definite's on the day, and for those who are maybe's, we hope you can find a way to join us.