"WE MIGHT have lost our limbs, but we haven't lost our sense of humour."
So says Arthur Hannan one of the 'Calendar Boys' who donned women's clothing to raise money for the British limbless ex-service men's association (Blesma).
The idea came about when a group of people living at Blesma's Blackpool home on Lytham Road enjoyed a trip to the cinema to see the film Calendar Girls, the story of the Yorkshire Women's Institute members who stripped off to raise money for charity.
Tom Morris, takes up the story: "When we came out we were sat on the bus and three or four of us decided we could do a calendar just like that.
"I found it very, very easy to find people to appear in the calendar. I went round and asked them and, strange to say, I don't think I got any refusals.
"The original idea was that we were just going to be ordinary chaps, but the girls had got other ideas. When we went down to the conservatory for the photo shoot, they grabbed us and dressed us up
"Since moving here, I've never looked back, but I didn't expect to get involved in anything like this."
Tom, originally from Worcester, moved to the Blesma home two years ago, after both his wife of 60 years and his 102-year-old mother died in the space of a month and is full of praise for the staff and, especially, his fellow residents.
"They are great mates, you cannot say anything better than that," he added.
And Tom's fellow Calendar Boys echo his enthusiasm for the calendar idea.
Arthur adds: "We want to raise a lot of money for the home, if we can, and the way it's going I think we will do. It's a marvellous home, not quite as good as home itself but it's a good second."
"It's brilliant," adds Charles Buddle: "We get everything we want, when we want it. Most of us will be ending our days here and I cannot think of a better place in which to do it.
"It says a lot for the spirit of the place that we have a dozen blokes who are prepared to make themselves look damn ridiculous for the good of the home."
Copies of the calendar are available from the Blesma home on Lytham Road. For more information on the calendar, contact the home on 01253 343313.
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