The Naughty but Nice charity calendar put together by 12 inspiring women, has sold 130 copies which have enabled the ladies to support two young ladies who have dreams of being au pairs overseas.
Napier, South Africa (03 January 2023) – 12 women from Napier in the Western Cape bared it all in the hopes of raising funds for their local charity Over Ed. They created a “Naughty but Nice” charity calendar last year and managed to raise R25,000.
The funds have been donated to Over Ed (incorporating NADS, a local NGO) which introduces children to arts and culture and equips teens with life skills. The goal was to help cover the costs of local students who have dreams of au pairing overseas. Both hopeful young ladies would have missed out had the Napier ladies not stepped forward to raise the funds needed.
The ladies assisted two school leavers. One of the youngsters had secured an au pair position in Germany and Over Ed had covered the cost of her visa and passport, as well as the flight needed to get overseas. The second school leaver is in the process of doing her interviews for a position in the United Kingdom. She too will receive assistance financially thanks to the 12 inspiring women.
Over Ed will further assist with mentoring both ladies to ensure they make the transition from a small local town to first-world European countries more easily.
The Naughty but Nice Calendar
Photographer Josie Borain shot the individual portraits for the calendar. She drew on her career as an international model to put the nerves and fears of each woman at ease. Josie was able to capture each woman’s personality beautifully. Local photographer Steve Baily handled the cover and back group shots, which you can see below.
The ladies featured are all residents of Napier. They range from the age of 49 and up. Each woman has a beautiful story to tell. For many, this moment was a massive push for their comfort zone.
Local musician, Alida Wood and go-getter Annelize Vermaak were integral in bringing this project to life. As were each of the ladies who participated: Maria Grobbelaar, Nazley Sadie, Heila Snyders, retired teacher Liandé van Eeden and local business owners Anneline Kriel, Kathy Morris, Dee Robinson, Theunie Vorster and stage 4 cancer lifer Mari Bezuidenhout.
“We are not 16 or even 30 anymore – that effortless and what is seen as the “norm” kind of beauty is gone. We are women who have lived our lives, our hearts were broken in a million pieces over and over again, but we stood up and we got on with it. We chose love over and over again, we walked over battlefields that scared others profoundly. Still we carried on, we looked ourselves in the mirror in the morning and thought ‘How the hell am I going to do it today?’ Then we put on a smear of lipstick and we did it. So a few dimples, pimples, wrinkles and scars on a body, my dear, is a sign of victory and bravery that this world need so badly, especially the young women that follow in our footsteps and need us to tell them “Be yourself!” – Annelize Vermaak
Lindsay Moncrieff, the founder of Over Ed, says she has been blown away by the positive response. The initial 100 prints sold out within two weeks. They were able to do a second smaller run of 30 calendars for the additional locals who had missed out. Lindsay hopes to sell a few more however, they are now doing pre-orders going forward, just to cover the costs during the month of January.
You can order yours via email here.