At the beginning of November, 50 employees from Lancashire-based Daisy Communications laid themselves bare to take part in a charity calendar entitled “How well do you know your communications provider?”. The end product of two days of blushes, laughter and a huge dose of goodwill, has now been unleashed on the public.
From finance to sales, the marketing team to members of the board, all departments within the company took a step out of their comfort zone to take part in a memorable calendar photo shoot.
As the Daisy sexes joined forces, it was decided that half of all donations would go to the cancer charity Everyman, which funds research to cross out prostate and testicular cancer, and half to the female charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
Daisy CEO Matthew Riley said: “The idea for the calendar was based on the fun element of working at the company and all the laughs we share while we’re at work. But not only that, we thought it would be good to show customers the faces behind the voices that are at the other end of the phone and obviously try and raise as much money as we could for charity.
“I’m really proud of everyone that took part. Taking your clothes off isn’t an easy thing to do, so credit goes to all the staff that were so willing to do it. The end result is fantastic.”
Phil Tung, who works in the sales support team, was the first to strip off for the calendar. He said: “I didn’t mind setting the tone for the shoot by baring all. It was all good fun and I wouldn’t think twice about doing it again.”
Amanda Cairney, who works in credit control, posed behind a cheque for the month of April. She said: “I lost my mum to breast cancer 13 years ago so I’ve been behind the calendar 100%. It is good that both male and female staff member felt that they could go out there and take their clothes off.”
Last night the calendar was unveiled at a special launch party. The production of the calendar has all been very secretive, with all content of the calendar kept under wraps until the official launch.
Hannah Crabtree, spokesperson for the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign, paid tribute to the firm for supporting the charity.
She said: "We're delighted that Daisy has shown such naked ambition in regards to their fundraising and going to great lengths to support Everyman. We wish all the staff the best of luck with the calendar sales."
Calendars are priced at £3 and all proceeds will go straight to the charities involved. Anyone who wants a copy should contact Daisy directly on 01282 608984 or visit www.daisyplc.com for more information.