Burnley Pendle and Rossendale support group has raised £300 for BSA though sales of a calendar created by the group. Here is their account.

Fundraising calendar We formed ourselves into a group To demonstrate to you although we have a stammer We're also gifted too. Each with a different talent This calendar inspired To raise funds for the BSA From each sold or acquired. O.B. Duxbury April 2008

It all started in August 2007. Some members of the group had talked about their hobbies with the group. Paul enjoys photography, Owen writes poetry. During our monthly meetings we decided that we would like to share our talents and use them in a way that would benefit the BSA and be a celebration of our group's hard work over the past 12 months. The calendar was born!

Paul offered to put any photos, poems and positive quotations onto a calendar layout and print it off for us, and the group agreed to collate, ring-bind, and then sell as many as possible.

We started to look into costs and found ourselves in possession of a batch of paper donated by a neighbour. This meant we only had to fund the cost of the ink cartridges and ring binders.

After a print run of 10-12 hours, the group set to work collating and ring-binding. With only one machine to do this Charmaine (SLT) did a number of 'overtime' shifts in order to meet the Christmas deadline! On the 18th of November, with a celebratory cheer, the last calendar was popped into its envelope.

Members of the group have spoken to friends, colleagues and strangers about the calendar. An article submitted by Owen was published in local newspapers. ENGAGE (East Lancs PCT's magazine for NHS staff) also ran an article. This has helped raise public awareness and encouraged group members to be open about stammering.

We have sold the calendar to colleagues in Burnley Pendle and Rossendale, local cafes, the Burnley Bus station, voluntary organisations and families. It has been purchased by people as far afield as Leeds , Settle, Skipton and Blackburn who will we're sure enjoy the beautiful local views of Burnley Pendle and Rossendale.

After taking out production costs we have raised £300

It has been a lot of hard work but very enjoyable. Hopefully we have raised the profile of stammering in our local area. As a group it has been a fun activity that has given us a joint focus, bringing us together with a positive outcome.

Charmaine Burrow (Specialist Speech and Language Therapist)
Alison McLaughlin (Speech and Language Therapist)

From the Spring 2009 Speaking Out, page 18: extended version.