A few weeks ago, a local amateur photographer, Mark Jefferies, came up with the idea of putting together a Fairford calendar using photographs of Fairford that he had taken himself, writes Chris Roberts.

He describes himself as an absolute amateur photographer and fairly new to digital photography.

It was Mark’s sister-in-law that suggested he produce a Fairford calendar, so he decided to “dip his toe in the water” and post a selection of his photos on Facebook, ask people to vote for their favourite venues and see if there was any interest in his project.

Mark said: “It was like walking into the unknown but, thankfully, with the help of the Fairfordians, the response was overwhelming and it turned out to be a great success.”

Mark managed to sell all 300 calendars in a very short time and confirmed that even more could have been sold if more had been available.

The total amount of money raised from Mark’s 2021 calendar was £675 and he proposes to donate £200 to Oak & Furrows Wildlife Rescue; £175 to the Lechlade & District Lions Club and £100 each to the Fire Service Benevolent Fund; the Yellow Bus Project and the Friends of Fairford & Lechlade Communities.

Mark, who has earned the nickname ‘The Fairford Photographer’, is now thinking about next year and possibly asking other Fairford photographers to contribute their photographs to the 2022 calendar.