COMMUNITY
From Home with Love
by Lisa Mcknockiter
We are a group of RAF wives and girlfriends whose partners all serve at Coningsby. The idea was suggested that we should get together to produce a charity calendar to raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund.
W
e all know how hard it is to be a spouse or partner of someone in the Forces, the ups and
downs we endure, moving from place to place, being without our loved ones for extended lengths of time, having to adapt to a new area and make new friends every few years.
And although we may not have used the services of the RAFBF, at some point in our lives we may need to. So giving to them has been an important factor to us all in taking part in this calendar. Originally, we were thinking along the lines of using uniforms in some way or another but decided in the end that a boudoir theme would work really well for us.
We were very lucky to have Ann Summers, Lincolnshire on board to provide us with the underwear for the shoot, which we hoped would look sexy without being overtly so.
We have also been extremely lucky to have so many great people and businesses willing to provide us with services and facilities free of charge.
Our photographer Darren Juggins from Photo’s by Design and Adam Deakin our graphic designer have been fantastic at throwing ideas out to us and Cherries Hair and Beauty were great on the day in giving us all ‘the look’ we were after. Petwood Hotel at Woodhall Spa gave us some fantastic backdrops to work with and we were thrilled with how it all came together.
In such a very short space of time we had half the sponsorship for the reproduction and hope to sell the calendars locally and to members of the Air Force, in the hope to raising more than £8,000 for the Benevolent Fund.
Many of us have partners who are either on detachment or going early next year and it is something that we have done for them,
too. Our family and friends have been so supportive throughout, and we have made some great friends along the way.
Craig Walton, whose wife Sarah was one of the organisers said: “When my wife came to me with the idea I thought it was a fantastic idea for a fantastic cause. There were lots of hurdles to get over from start to finish but the girls have managed to pull it off. I am extremely proud”.
If anyone wishes to make a donation or order a calendar, price £8.99, then please send an email to:
rafwagscalendar@yahoo.com or go to our ‘From Home with Love – Charity Calendar’ facebook page.
The ladies involved are: Lisa Mcknockiter, Sarah Walton, Clare Heaton, Suzanne Hopkins, Emma Riley, Kerrie Granton, Michelle Hanman, Anna-louise Thompson, Amanda Langton, Claire Louise Smith, Gemini Bateman.
…and from the Leeming Ladies…
A small group of RAF and Army wives, all based at RAF Leeming have also joined forces to create a calendar. Theirs is a 1940’s inspired calendar to raise money and awareness of the RAF Widows Association and the Army Widows Association.
Chantelle Holmes, on behalf the Leeming Ladies said, “The two Widows Associations do an amazing job supporting Service wives when they lose their husbands.
“We were inspired by the 1940’s because the women in that decade had to take on the roles of the men while their men were at war as well as running their homes and raising families. And that is what we Forces
42 Envoy Winter 2011
wives do today; while our husbands are on deployment we are left on ‘the home front’.
“Local wartime museum Eden Camp very kindly opened their doors to allow us to use their sets and scenes for the shoot, which was perfect for
our 40’s theme. Our photographer is an RAF wife who runs her own photography business, Sarah Riley Photography, and she has put in an amazing amount of time, effort and her talents making the final product one we all are very proud of”.
The Leeming Ladies calendar is priced at £10 (plus p&p) All proceeds go straight to RAFWA and AWA. For more information or to order email:
leemingladies2012@yahoo.co.uk
The ladies involved are: Chantelle Holmes, Kristie Langdale, Sarah Riley, Rebecca Reddick, Terri Greaves, Hayley Tonner, Tracey Melville, Emily Rice, Helen Blakemore, Sarah French, Jessica Spence, Ellen Shakespeare, Lesley Friend, Angela Hayes, Gemma Clarke.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Photo: Darren Juggins of Photo’s by Design
Photo: Sarah Riley Photography
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