28 Feb 2024 Community

Meet the winners of last year’s Calendar Competition!

Earlier this month we saw the launch of our annual calendar competition for entries to feature in our 2025 calendar. Receiving an influx of wonderful submissions already, we thought we would catch up with last year's winners to find out a little bit more about their stunning photographs and the reasons for taking part.

You might be curious about how sharing your photographs with us to be featured in our calendar can help support the services provided by The Kirkwood to the communities of Kirklees? Apart from the opportunity to showcase your photography skills and have them exhibited in the public eye, the sale of our calendars plays a crucial role in supporting the patients in our care. The income generated from the sale of our calendars helps us to provide the necessary support to patients in our In-Patient Unit at Dalton and those within the community across the whole of Kirklees who choose to either remain in their own homes or care homes.

Last week we caught up with Chelsea Firth, Mark Bickerdike,  Maureen Hurst, Cat Ellis, and Yvonne Shaw to discuss their winning photographs and their reasons for taking part in last year's competition. 

 

Chelsea Firth
(October)

A local nurse with prior knowledge of The Kirkwood, Chelsea believes in our charity's mission and the services we provide. Sharing with us not only her professional association with The Kirkwood but also her personal reason for taking part.

"I love taking photographs and I also love walking, so I thought I would combine the two. I was really pleased and shocked when I heard that my picture had made it into the calendar.

"I used to be a community nurse and often worked with patients who would eventually need palliative care and support from The Kirkwood. My son Lewie is named after his great grandad Luis, who used to come to the hospice to attend group wellbeing sessions for his heart, and Lewie's nan, Maureen, was cared for on The Kirkwood's In-Patient Unit.

"I think it's a lovely local charity. We've done The Kirkwood Memory Walk before and we've been involved in other fundraising events too. I was thrilled to be informed I had been selected to feature in the 2024 calendar, it's my way of continuing to give back to a charity I believe in."

 

Mark Bickerdike
(April and August)

First time winner of our competition, Mark was successfully selected to feature not just once but twice in our 2024 calendar. Submitting five photos in total to the competition, both Marks featured photos depicting different viewpoints from his favourite place to visit, Castle Hill in Almonbury. 

"I have a lot of respect for The Kirkwood as they cared for my father, Allan, in 1997. He was first introduced to The Kirkwood for respite care, and impressed by the quality of care he received he requested that he come back to The Kirkwood for his last days, and thankfully he did. So, following on from that any sort of charitable activities we do as a family now, we always do for The Kirkwood.

"It's always nice to see pictures in print. I do photography for a living and was delighted to hear I made the final cut with two of my images."

 

Maureen Hirst
(May)

An avid supporter of The Kirkwood, grateful for the care given to her father-in-law and brother and inspired by her outings in the car, Maureen was delighted to hear that her photo had been selected for another consecutive year to feature in our 2024 calendar. 

"We were always going for a run out in the car, and whilst out, I like to take photographs. I've been lucky to have a few images in The Kirkwood calendars in previous years. I buy quite a lot of the calendars for my friends and family, sending them to Lincolnshire. This time, the calendar went international and made it all the way to Hong Kong, where my daughter-in-law's mum lives."

 

Cat Ellis
(November)

Cat's entry was a beautifully scenic photo of Emley Moor Mast. Previously living in Holmfirth, Cat had relocated to London for a time before eventually returning to her roots a couple of years ago, moving back to the Kirklees area, and she was pleased to hear her photo had been selected. 

"I am proud that my photo has made the 2024 calendar. It was taken just up the road from where I live now. I was out for a walk one day, and I noticed the sky looked nice as a backdrop to the mast, so I took a picture. 

"I heard from a friend that The Kirkwood was doing a calendar competition and thought I should submit my photo. I thought what a great cause and charity, and it's also a nice opportunity to see if people like the pictures you take, so I entered and was happily selected as a winner."

 

Yvonne Shaw
(July)

A resident of Liversedge, Yvonne was no stranger to The Kirkwood and had heard of the work we provided within her community over the years.
Becoming more poignant to her following a life limiting diagnosis of her mum in 2022. Her winning photo holds fond memories and significance to her reason for entering our competition.

"Mum was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and was admitted into The Kirkwood initially to receive respite care for a few weeks, sadly not long before she lost her battle. 

"I cannot thank the nurses and doctors at The Kirkwood enough, the care she received was just amazing, nothing was too much trouble, and the support given to me and my family during and following her death was invaluable. 

"We were extremely proud to have given just under £800 of donations received at my mum's funeral. The photograph I entered into the competition was one I’d actually taken in July of 2022,  just before I went to visit my mum. She absolutely adored butterflies, so I decided I would try and capture a good photo on my phone to show her, and the photo that is featured in the calendar was the outcome of that day! 

"When I saw the competition advertised on Facebook, I decided to try my luck because of the sentiment, and when I found out I had been selected as one of your winners, I was very surprised & happy. The Kirkwood will always have a special place in my heart, and we will always continue to support them."

 

Ursula Parkinson 
(September)

Living in the Colne Valley of Golcar, Ursula experiences great views of the countryside and lovely walks all year round.
 
A long-term supporter of The Kirkwood, Ursula buys her annual raffle tickets, and makes regular donations of her pre-loved items to our shops. "The Calendar is a great way to support The Kirkwood and for people to enter the competition. The calendar depicts wonderful photographs of our lovely town and raising money for such a worthy cause.
 
"Having entered the competition previously and being selected to feature in the 2023 calendar, I decided to enter again and was elated to hear that my photo was chosen for the 2024 calendar. 
 
"I chose the picture 'Sunset on Pole Moor' as it is one of my favourite places in the Colne Valley to sit on an evening and watch the sunset together.  
 
"My love of photography and taking photos of nature and scenery began 4 years ago and is a great way to relax being outdoors. Being able to share my photographs with others is a great feeling."

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who entered into our 2024 calendar competition, there were some truly wonderful photographs which made the selection process very tricky indeed. Congratulations to our winners, and thank you for your contribution. 

If you have an eye for photography and think you could be the next winner of our 2025 calendar, our competition is open now.
To enter your photos, click the link HERE. - Good Luck!