The Calendar Girls who 'Bare to Care' Michelle, Louise, Fidelma, Mary, Kelly and Trish.

Calendar Girls in Belturbet

Inside story: Six brave and kind hearted women from Belturbet put their curves in focus when they posed for a semi-nude ‘Bare to Care’ calendar to raise runds for the Friends of Cavan Oncology Unit. SEAN MCMAHON attended the calendar launch last Friday night to learn more about the initiative...

 

The loss of one woman’s mother and mother-in-law, both to cancer, within a short period of time motivated one Belturbet woman to produce the ‘Bare to Care’ charity calendar.
Orla Hand, along with Fidelma Fay, were the two principle organisers and the brains behind the calendar initiative.
“Personally I lost my mother and mother-in-law in the last few years to ovarian cancer. Fidelma had mentioned about doing a calendar and my daughter had spoken about cutting her hair – so it seemed opportune to put the two ideas together and come up with a brilliant night like this,” Orla told the Celt.
The fabulous women who took part in the ‘Bare to Care’ photo shoot were Trish O’Reilly Tierney, Kelly Reilly, Mary Hackett, Michelle Greenan, Louise Galligan and Fidelma Fay.
They were captured in all their natural beauty by award-winning photographer for the calendar, with all proceeds going to the Friends of Cavan Oncology Unit.
Each lady appears in the calendar twice with two months allocated to each and all the women got a standing ovation when the full colour and beautifully produced calendar was launched during a charity fashion show in the Townhall Civic Centre last Friday night.
Orla paid tribute to the generosity of the people of Belturbet and Cavan. “Everyone put their hand deep in their pockets.”
Fidelma said “it was an amazing community night here in the Belturbet Townhall Civic Centre and there is a wonderful buzz around the place”.

Creating awareness
The calendar was kept under wraps according to Fidelma and the audience had no hint what was going to be unveiled during the fashion show until the trailer for the Calendar Girls was shown on screen and the six ladies took to the cat walk in their white robes.
Fidelma said that she had to be brave enough to be part of the calendar shoot hereself if she was to expect her friends to get involved.
“It all about creating awareness around cancer and in particular ovarian and breast cancer and ensuring that women look after themselves and being aware of signs and symptoms. It is also about togetherness – getting together to raise money for such a wonderful charity,” said Fidelma.
They are delighted with the success of the entire event, which also featured a number of girls having their long hair chopped off in aid of the Little Princess Trust, which donates the hair for the production of wigs for children with cancer. They were Rebecca Harvey, Amber McEniff and Aoimhe Hand. Rebecca Harvey, a fifth year student in St Bricin’s College, raised over €1,300, and had sponsorship cards in circulation in the college and in shops in the town.

Huge thanks
Tommy Costello from the Friends of Cavan Oncology charity spoke about the work it does and revealed that it was established in 2009 after Dr John McCaffrey requested that an organisation be set up to look after the funds coming into Cavan Oncology.
“The funding we receive goes towards the funding of the education of the nurses in Cavan Oncology Unit and also for capital expenditure on any items they might require in the unit. It also goes towards cancer research in the Mater Hospital, which is organised and run by Dr John McCaffrey, counselling for cancer patients and general patient expenses such as travel and accommodation if required,” explained Mr Costello.
The six models who took part in the fashion show were Lynsey, Caroline, Liz, Elaine and Lina. All showcased superb outfits with lots of elegance and flamboyance.
All the fashion wear worn by the models during the fashion show was courtesy of Vanilla Boutique in Cavan Town and the compere was the delightful Siobhan Fay (see page 69 of this week's Celt for more photos from the fashion show).
The outfits included a black Laurel dress which was co-ordinated by a statement cuff by Butterfly, a fine navy coat by Luisa Cerano over a printed fit and flare Adrianna Papell dress. A black pussy bow blouse also featured with black trousers, as did a stretch jersey dress with black cape details by Adrianna Papell.
There were also Escada skinny jeggings in dark denim shade and also Escada black skinny jeans and a fur poncho over a crisp white shirt looked stunning with a pair of grey skinny trousers. The organisers wish to sincerely thank all the sponsors for their generosity and Helen from Loreal Ireland for all her help.

To buy the calendars

It's hoped to raise in the region of €15,000 from the sale of the calendars. It would make a nice Christmas gift at €10. said the calendars will be on sale all around Belturbet and in Vanilla Boutique in Cavan Town.