Remember the 18 girls from Gardiner Security who stripped off for the company’s very own take on the movie adaptation of the true story Calendar Girls?
The A3 colour publication was sold to thousands of people across the UK security industry – even as far abroad as Australia and the USA – and raised £10,000 in aid of young cancer sufferers.
The campaign was led by Rochdale head office receptionist Yvonne Seddon, who featured in May alongside colleague Bev Potts. All those involved worked hard to promote the calendar through the Gardiner branch network, and their efforts were backed by local and national media – not to mention word of mouth. The publication sold at £4.99 and raised £10,865.48 for the Manchester Children’s Hospitals. Pat Whiteside, the Charities Manager, recently visited Gardiner Security’s Head Office for the official cheque handover.
Yvonne hit on the idea when she started arranging photos for staff ID cards and jokingly asked Human Resources if they wanted just a head and shoulders shot of herself and her colleagues, or something more? Yvonne regularly raises money for charity, and when other girls expressed an interest and volunteered to take part in the calendar, the company agreed to publish it. Amongst the volunteers was Yvonne’s daughter Helen, whose school friend Clare Drogan died of leukaemia, and to whom the calendar was dedicated. Support to the Manchester Children’s Hospitals will provide better equipment, more research and a brighter environment for young leukaemia and cancer sufferers in the region.
Those who bought the calendar were treated to the Gardiner girls illustrating monthly themes such as "Back to School", the Fourth of July, "Beach Babes", Halloween and Bonfire Night. Pastiches of famous images were also re-enacted, including the rose petal scene from the movie "American Beauty" for Valentine’s Day.
Gardiner Security’s customers and manufacturers made up most of the purchases, and mention must go to Pelco, whose UK office had numerous requests for the calendar – especially on behalf of its factory in California! For those who are wondering, Gardiner has no plans to do another, but be warned – at least one other UK installation company has considered releasing one.
