Twinsclub 'Twins 2005' calendar

The Twinsclub Calendars - the story so far!

The Calendar front cover

(Below) Anita B holds the very first calendar, fresh off the press in Cheltenham, June 2004

(Below) Lindsey Gray with sons Alex and Toby promote the 2005 calendar

The Twins 2005 calendar was conceived after a relaxing night in the company of 11 ladies from Rhylstone, and a few glasses of wine. I was watching Calendar Girls, the movie of the "Alternative WI calendar" of 2000 - you know, the one where they took their kit off. I suddenly thought of all the beautiful photo's regularly posted on our forums, and realised that we could do our very own charity calendar, and (thankfully) I wouldn't have to get naked.

It all seemed really straightforward - get a bunch of photo's in, send them to a printer and bobs'-your-uncle. Mmmm. There was a little bit more to it than that, as I was soon to discover. I soon realised I had bitten off much more than I could chew, when out flew an angel to my rescue. Cue, Anita B.

This is Anita B - (pictured left) longstanding Twinsclubber and fabulously talented technical editor - very handy with photo's too! Anita very generously offered her fantastic talents for free, and saved us hundreds of pounds by designing the calendar herself. She also saved me many sleepless nights, because I had faith that she would pull it off in the end.

Despite last minute hitches (ie realising that grey is actually a colour, not just a shade of black!) the calendars were printed on time and soon ready for despatch to my home in the highlands of Scotland. I then loaded them all on my car and drove them all the way back down to England (in fact to about 50 miles short of where they had been printed) to launch them at the Tamba Telford Fun day, on July 10th 2004.

Calendar sales went well, with lots of people buying multiple copies, getting their christmas shopping done early!! We have to say a big thank you to everyone who bought a copy, especially those who bought 20, yes 20!!

By the end of 2004 we had virtually sold out all 1000 copies, and had a cheque for £2000 to hand to BLISS, our nominated charity for 2004. The remainder of the money went to help keep Twinsclub running for another year.

Pictured below are Jackie Glazebrook, Community Events Manager for BLISS, (left) and Lindsey Gray, co-founder www.twinsclub.co.uk with the proceeds of the Twins 2005 calendar.

The October page from the calendar...

Twins and Triplets 2006 Calendar

The 2006 calendar front cover

June 2006 page

Following the success of the 2005 calendar, we persuaded the very wonderful Anita B to wave her magic wand over a 2006 version. This time we crammed 76 beautiful photo's into just 12 months and the result was stunning.

Thanks to everyone who sent in photos - we were simply overwhelmed with the amount of entries and choosing the final few was a very difficult task indeed. Believe me, for every beautiful photo in the calendar there were 5 more sitting in my shortlist folder, so please don't be disheartened if your photo did not appear.

Our thanks also go to 2006's recipient charity, Tamba, for all their help in soliciting photo entries from their members, and for their valuable skills in marketing the calendar.

We pitched our efforts and managed to either sell or donate most copies, which meant a cheque for Tamba to the tune of £3000 (see Toby and Alex Gray, right).

Calendar Sponsors :

We are indebted to the following businesses who sponsored the 2006 calendar :

www.kiddicare.com - The Baby Nursery Specialists
www.proactivegenetics.com - Online DNA test ordering
The Babystyle Twin Lux pram - the perfect pram for newborns
Tommee Tippee - From Bump to Bouncing Toddler
www.twinsthings.co.uk - Innovative Baby products and unique gifts
The XTS Twin Twister Pram - only 75 cms wide, manoeuvres with ease
www.tamba.org.uk - The Twins and Multiple Births Association
www.easy2name.com - Dishwasher-proof stickers, iron-on labels
Tommee Tippee Cotton Bottoms - better for baby, better for the world
Twins and Triplets - casting identical babies/children for film and tv
www.thenurseryprogramme.co.uk - Studio photography in a nursery environment

Sadly, time constraints, moving house and other family pressures which all of us can relate to meant there was no time to do a 2007 calendar, which brings us to 2008 (below)

Who was in the 2006 calendar ? Read more here

(Below) Toby and Alex Gray with the £3000 donation to Tamba

Twins & Triplets 2008 Calendar

Having had a year off from calendar design, AnitaB was back on board for our 2008 production. This should have been a really easy task, but I think complacency got the better of me and I was actually far less organised this time than on either of the previous 2! However Anita got us out of the mire and came up trumps again!

Following the same format as the 2005 calendar, the 2008 version featured 57 gorgeous photos of your twins and triplets, along with 12 stories from the heart, about life with multiples. Our recipient charity this year is Tommy's The Baby Charity, (www.tommys.org), and we are aiming to sell all 1000 copies and donate the maximum amount to Tommys.

We are grateful to our printers for keeping the printing costs the same, and to our wonderful sponsors whose support will mean more money being donated to charity.

2008 Calendar Sponsors :

www.urchin.co.uk - Great toys, furniture and accessories for kids

www.tamba.org.uk - Twins and Multiple Birth Association, celebrating 30 years in 2008

www.twins-store.co.uk - quality essentials at your fingertips

www.twinagency.com - over 15 years of expertise in supplying twins & triplets to the film and television industry

www.twinsthings.co.uk - Innovative baby products & unique gifts for twins & more

www.orangegrovesvilla.com - Twin friendly villa in Orlando

www.tommys.org - Saving babies lives since 1992

www.kiddicare.com - The baby nursery specialists with great range of twin and triple buggies

www.twinsuk.co.uk - bright ideas for busy people

www.2became4.com - Practical solutions for twin and multiple parents

www.proactivegenetics.com - DNA testing to establish identical or non-identical status

www.twinsclub.co.uk - The UK's #1 website for parenting twins, triplets and more!

The calendar can either be purchased online through our shop at www.secure.twinsclub.co.uk, or by post.

2008 calendars are still available - did you have twins in 2008 or do you know someone who did ? If so it makes a great keepsake and a lovely (if not now entirely useful!) gift. To pay by cheque, please send your order and payment for £5 per calendar to : Twinsclub, 1 Matthews Close, Stratford St. Mary, Suffolk, CO7 6LH

Other projects have taken place of the 2009 calendar, but we do intend to publish a 2010 version so please keep your photographs coming. For full info on how to send your entry, click here

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