A Salford councillor has put calendars containing her original photography up for sale to raise money for three Salford charities.
Councillor Heather Fletcher from Broughton unveiled her custom-made calendars to sell at the GK Gallery on Chapel Street for £10 each.
Last night was the first night of sale and her intention was to help the city’s Ceremonial Mayor raise money for local charities amidst the cost-of-living crisis.
For Cllr Fletcher, photography was always a hobby, and she started taking pictures during the Covid-19 lockdown.
She said: “When I was 10, I entered a photography competition, I took a photo of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and won it.
“And during lockdown, I was quite bored and depressed at times and people said we’ll go on walks, I’m not one for walking but I thought that if I took my camera with me, I might take some very nice shots.”
She was encouraged to make a calendar out of the photos after she displayed them online.
Cllr Fletcher continued: “I had all these photographs and put them on the Swinton’s people Facebook page where I work as a councillor, and a couple of the people said they really liked the photographs and asked, why don’t you make them into a calendar?
“I said I’d love to, but I can’t afford to shell out £700 in the hope that somebody might buy them, but I’m very proud of my photographs and would like to get them in print at some point.”
Fletcher came up with the idea to sell the calendars when Anne-Marie Humphries recently became the ceremonial mayor of Salford.
Because of the cost-of-living crisis, charities became an important source of help, but struggled due to limited resources.
Cllr Fletcher persuaded Humphries to sell her calendars to raise money for three local charities of the mayor’s choice.
The three charities were Salford Loaves and Fishes, Salford children’s holiday camp and animals in distress.
Christina Durham, 34, deputy manager for animals in distress was asked to take part and was persuaded to due to the cost-of-living crisis.
She said: “The-of-living crisis has just been awful; we’ve had animals coming back all the time because people just can’t afford them.”
People taking back their animals has caused stress for the charity, due to lack of room and elevated maintenance work.
Durham said: “We always accept our own (animals) back, but then we’ve got extra animals on top of the one we already have.
“And then that makes rehoming hard because people are worries of their finances, so it’s great to get more exposure, put our name out there more and get more donations in as it really helps.”
Helen Kirby, 62, owner of the GK Gallery said she was excited to host the event.
Kirby: “When we were suggested to host the exhibition for the calendar, we jumped at the opportunity.
“we’ve got the ideal space to house pieces of artwork and these photographs that make up the calendar.
“I love them all, and I love the fact that for each season, the picture changes totally so for April you’ve got lovely, fresh flowers coming out.”
Kirby has been the co-owner of the café and art gallery with her daughter for six years and is open to hosting more charity events in the future.
“I will be buying a calendar; no home should be complete without one.
“Anything that benefits Salford and benefits charities working here is great for the area, so we’re happy to support anything that benefits the local area.”
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