Town's men get naked for charity calendar

A postman, butcher, pub landlord and several other town residents have gathered together to create a naked calender for Prostate Cancer UK.

Most of the models, from Leek in Staffordshire, have had, or been directly affected by, cancer and wanted to give something back in a fun way.

Lee 'Mr October' Dawson lost both his parents to the disease and has only recently recovered from it himself.

"Everyone wanted to help out. We wanted all the people that everyone knows in Leek and we managed to get them all," he said. The calendars are available in pubs and shops at £10 each with all profits going to charity.

Each page has a #saveleekhospital logo printed on it, encouraging people to protect the town's minor injuries unit which some residents fear is under threat.

The fundraiser began as a suggestion in The Blue Mugge pub as the men chatted over a few drinks.

"We were on about the Calendar Girls, raising money and a lot of us have experienced something to do with cancer," Nigel 'Mr October' Maycock said.

"Before we knew it, it goes from a couple of pints thinking 'Should we do it, shouldn't we do it' - well, let's do it!"

He said it was a surreal morning when his friends Lee Dawson and Nigel Walwyn gathered in their dressing gowns in the car park of the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council offices.

Blue Mugge landlord, Paul 'Mr June' Harrison, is proud of the support the calendar has already had including free printing courtesy of local printers, Graffiti Graphics.

"The people of Leek will always get behind things," he said. "Anything that's in the community, people'll pull together and try to do the best for our town."