Inspired by the good works of a local group of volunteers, building services company James Frew has handed over a cheque for £1,911 to Cancer Research UK Ltd.

James Frew, which is based in Stevenston in Ayrshire, made the generous gift to the charity after hearing about the fundraising efforts of employee Martin McClymont's wife and friends.

Martin's wife Jackie and daughter Jennifer and a group of their friends from the West Kilbride area have produced a 2012 calendar to raise funds for both Cancer Research UK and the Teenage Cancer Trust. The group call themselves 'SaddleBags', a tongue in cheek title which suggests that they don't take themselves too seriously, although they take very seriously their intention to raise funds and awareness for the two charities.

Styled on the famous Women's Institute Calendar which became a world-wide phenomenon and a hit movie starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, it features the group in a variety of poses in a local stable with the ladies' horses.

Group spokesman Marie Hosie, who is Miss February explained, said: "The calendar was my friend Liz Reid's idea as she has survived breast cancer and wanted to help other people fighting the disease. My mother, who also had breast cancer, and my daughter also appear so it was a real family affair. There are two other mother/daughter combinations in the calendar, but apart from that it was our shared love of horses that initially brought most of us together. We then roped in a couple of non-equestrian friends to make up twelve.

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"Half the proceeds will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust because the teenage son of one of the calendar girls was treated for cancer last year and the facilities provided by the TCT at Yorkhill made a huge difference to him and the many other teenage patients he and his parents met during their time there. The needs of teenagers undergoing treatment for cancer are quite different to the needs of children and adults, and the TCT meets these needs perfectly.

"It was great fun doing the shoot and we used lots of strategically placed props to spare our blushes. My picture is probably one of the most covered up as I am fully clothed with a dressage hat on but they are all in good taste and our partners were very supportive of the whole venture.

"Martin heard that James Frew was donating money to a number of charities to celebrate their 100th anniversary and nominated Cancer Research UK as he knows how much the charity means to us all."

Roddy Frew, Managing Director of James Frew, said: "We were very impressed when Martin told us about what Jackie and her friends were doing to raise cash for cancer charities and decided we wanted to do our bit to help Cancer Research UK, which does a tremendous job in the global fight against the disease.

"Cancer touches the lives of so many and it was recently revealed that the number of people likely to suffer from the disease will increase by 45% over the next two decades largely as a result of the population living longer.

"We are delighted to help and would urge people to buy the calendar and further swell funds."

To purchase a copy of the calendar costing £9 including postage contact Marie Hosie on [email protected].

(GK)