00:00Forget the traditional rugby calendar, former players from Wrighton Rugby Club have stepped
00:05into the world of famous female icons, recreating some instantly recognisable photographs for a
00:10fundraising project with a difference. From pop stars to TV lifeguards, the images are designed
00:15to raise a smile, but the reason behind the calendar is much more personal.
00:19I've got a friend called Duncan who I worked with on a different calendar
00:24a few years ago for a wheelchair rugby team and he said he used to play for a rugby team
00:34and one of the guys who played for the rugby team has unfortunately got motor neuron disease.
00:42Did I fancy helping them produce a charity calendar to raise some money for motor neuron disease?
00:49It's a horrible disease, they don't seem to know a huge amount about it,
00:53it affects the nerves that in turn affect the muscles and you deteriorate quite quickly,
01:01which is an awful situation to be in. David always tends to have a smile on his face,
01:09but he is deteriorating, there's no way of getting around that, there's no cure and it just felt like
01:17a really worthy cause. The project was inspired by David Knowles, a member of the club who
01:23has motor neurone disease or MND. It's a condition affecting the nerves that control movement.
01:28The original plan was to produce a traditional fundraising naked rugby calendar,
01:33but when Newcastle photographer Joe Costigan was approached, he suggested a different look.
01:40Everybody's kind of throwing themselves in. You can see that they all care a lot for David Knowles,
01:46who has been involved in some of the photographs himself, and they've just got stuck in.
01:52The only slight issue was when we recreated the Athena tennis poster from years ago,
01:59and the guy who had been very keen to do that when he saw the picture was kind of like,
02:05why did I volunteer for that one? Because his backside's slightly on show. But apart from that,
02:12everybody's been chuffed to bits with their photos. I think he likes his as well, really.
02:19We're raising money for two motor neurone disease charities. One is the Motor Neurone Disease
02:28Association and the other is My Name's Doddy Foundation, which Doddy Weir was a rugby player himself.
02:37So the lads were quite keen to represent both of these and raise money for both of these causes.
02:46The 2027 calendar brings humour and creativity to a serious fundraising effort,
02:51with the players hoping their unusual transformation
02:54will help support charities working with people affected by MND.
