Calendar girls pose for victims of abuse
CUPCAKE POSE: Coral-Leigh Stuart de Lange is the photographer and an organiser of the Calendar Girls Project 2012 calendar. Although she is not in the calendar, here she is posed in the fashion of the shoot. Picture: SUPPLIED CUPCAKE POSE: Coral-Leigh Stuart de Lange is the photographer and an organiser of the Calendar Girls Project 2012 calendar. Although she is not in the calendar, here she is posed in the fashion of the shoot. Picture: SUPPLIED
Move over Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, it’s South Africa’s turn for some Calendar Girl fun. Local women, of all shapes and sizes, have taken the plunge and bared all in 12 tasteful, fun pin-ups to help raise funds for abused women as part of a Calendar Girls Project.
The project, the brainchild of Cape Town friends photographer Coral-Leigh Stuart de Lange and journalist Louisa Steyl, is to raise funds for the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children, a Manenberg-based organisation that offers 24-hour crisis response, a residential shelter and transitional housing for abused women and their children, legal assistance and job-skills training.
“One of the longest-lasting effects of abuse is a loss of self-worth,” says Steyl. “The calendar hopes to show women it doesn’t matter what size you are, or where you come from, you are worth something.
“Our motto, Know Your Worth, aims to empower every woman out there to take back their self-respect and dignity.”
The calendar will be launched at a vintage-themed cocktail evening at The Pepper Club on Loop Street next Saturday. Funds raised at an auction will go towards The Saartjie Baartman Centre.
Tickets for the launch cost R200. The calendars will be on sale from Monday, December 11, for R150, excluding postage.
l For details, visit the project’s blog at http://calendargirlsproject.wordpress.com, or contact them on Twitter, using the handle @calendargirlspr.
To book tickets for the launch, or help with sponsorships, call 082 575 6827. - Weekend Argus