You couldn't call it a performance - it was more like a group of friends getting together when four of the Calendar Girls came to Richmond to share their inspirational stories.

In 1998 when Angela Baker's husband John was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of leukaemia, her friends at Rylstone WI decided to raise funds by putting together an Alternative WI calendar. Members appeared nude with strategically placed props to do with traditional home crafts for which the WI is famous.

The printer they approached wouldn't accept an order for less than 3,000, so the girls thought they could mulch the ones left over and make briquettes to burn in the winter! As it turned out, by August 2004 they had raised their first million for Leukaemia Research, and continue to work for the charity in John Baker's memory.

Astonishingly, they haven't yet found a retail outlet for the 2007 calendar, but you can get one for £12.00 inc p&p - details at the bottom of this column.

The stories they share are full of humanity, warmth and fun - the girls stress that they didn't go ahead with the idea because they thought they were gorgeous - they hoped people would see the humour behind it.

Totally unfazed by their celebrity, they remark that stretch limos are so highly sprung they make you car sick. The Queen and the late Queen Mum, both WI members, were delighted to receive copies of the original calendar from the girls at Buckingham Palace, and Prince Charles was so taken with Miss July that he and Camilla invited them all to Clarence House. The staff there said they were a breath of fresh air - I couldn't have put it better myself.

Order your calendar online at www.lrf.org.uk/calendargirls