NI's calendar girls - and boys

Forget Helen Mirren's Calendar Girls. In Northern Ireland, women and men are stripping off in the name of charity!

Two naughty calendars, one featuring rugby players, the other a group of female friends, could be set to liven up your Christmas stocking this year.

A rugby player poses as Mr January

The group of County Antrim women shed most of their clothes - and their inhibitions - in a bid to raise money for motor neurone disease.

And, in a separate venture, the guys in the Ulster Rugby team posed in various stages of undress to highlight men's cancers.

The wraps are still on the women's calendar which features 12 friends from the ages of 21 to 51.

But all will be revealed at a charity event on 27 November at a hotel in Templepatrick.

It was the brainchild of Roberta Hill whose partner Roy Irwin has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Her friend, and co-model Catherine Service, said there were a few raised eyebrows when the idea was first mooted, but they hope to raise about £6,000 from sales of the calendars.

"It is very glamorous and very tastefully done," she told BBC News Online.

"There are some that are more revealing than others, but there's nothing vulgar about it at all. It's not provocative.

"We all had a few qualms about it at the start, but the photographer we had was brilliant, and very patient with us all. The pictures have turned out very well."

In a separate venture, the Ulster Rugby Men Against Cancer calendar features each player in a black and white photograph, in a bid to capture their personality and style.

Men Against Cancer was set up to establish a diagnostic unit for men's cancers at Belfast City Hospital, and also hopes to fund research into new ways of treating prostate and testicular cancer.

Ladies from a Women's Institute inspired the film Calendar Girls

The team captain, Andy Ward, said the players were delighted to be able to add their support to such a worthy cause.

"Some players proved to be more comfortable in front of the camera than others, and most benefited from the use of soft lighting and personal stylists," he said.

The chairman of Men Against Cancer, Eric Cairns, said: "Highly regarded athletes who take the creation of the clinic seriously, goes a long way to convincing other men to take advantage of the early diagnosis available.

"The fact that it is the only clinic of its type in Ireland underscores that importance."

The men's calendar is already on sale at various outlets in the province priced £7.95.

Anyone who wishes to obtain a copy of the women's calendar should ring 0771 055 7200. It will be also be available in shops from the end of the month.