GIFT buyers are being asked to make a date with a local hospice as its first official calendar goes on sale.
ST Teresa’s Hospice, Darlington, has launched its 2019 calendar as the perfect stocking filler for Christmas.
The A4 landscape glossy calendar features stunning images of Darlington and its surrounding areas taken by St Teresa’s own shops operations and house clearance manager and keen amateur photographer Paul Wheatley.
The idea of a calendar came from the hospice’s Enterprise Group, set up in 2017, which helps explore additional ways of raising funds for the hospice.
A judging panel, comprising chief executive Jane Bradshaw and other staff members, chose from a selection of Paul’s images to be included in the finished calendar.
Paul, 45, of Darlington, a member of Darlington Camera Club for five years, said: “I’ve been a keen photographer for over 35 years since I got my first camera, a Zenith 11.
“Some of my photographs have already been published in leaflets for the hospice and in The Northern Echo but this is the first time that I have had pictures printed inside a calendar.
“I’m really pleased with the choice of pictures chosen for the finished copy, which include snow scenes of South Park, the waterfall at Bowlees Beck and poppy fields at Broken Scar.
“It’s great to see the final product in print; it will make a great Christmas gift and hopefully help raise lots of money for the hospice.”
All proceeds from the calendar, which costs £5.25 and is available from St Teresa’s Hospice and all St T’s shops, will go towards helping fund the hospice, which provides free care and support for residents of Darlington, South West Durham and North-Yorkshire who are affected by life-limiting illness.