Original 2008 calendar: £21,645.28 (after expenses), all of which went to Leukaemia Research.

2010 calendar: £9,889.24 (after expenses), of which Leukaemia Research will receive £4,000, with the rest going to the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Jock Murray would like to thank everyone involved with the making of the calendar; all those who bought copies; the shops, businesses and individuals who helped sell it, and the people who helped him on the Lewis to London road trip. Thank you!

The making of the peat calendar, and the recent road trip from Lewis to London, will be the subject of an hour-long documentary on BBC Alba on Monday, 25th January, starting at 9 p.m.

BBC Alba can be viewed on channels Sky 168 and Freesat 110 and also on BBC iPlayer.

The peat calendar will make an appearance tonight (Tuesday 13th October) on “How To Look Good Naked”, starting at 8 p.m. on Channel 4.

Click to view full-size pic

The peat calendar has made its way to Venice, as shown in the photo above

[Photo courtesy of D. MacAskill]

“Dear Jock – I am a psychologist on the faculty of M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. This July, I attended the Lewis Highland Games and bought a copy of your incredible calendar to show my colleagues how Scots ingenuity can raise funds for cancer research. So much more up-front than our Children’s Art Project scarves! Later that rainy day, I left my calendar temporarily with my 17-year-old son while I went on an errand. When I returned, to my horror I found my son had inadvertently left the bag with the calendar in the cafe where he had been eating and had come back to our B&B without it. I looked on the internet when we returned home, but until today could not find a way to purchase a replacement of the 2010 calendar. I would really like to purchase another 3 copies! I will look forward to the calendar…best of luck in your excellent fundraising endeavors.

Best wishes,
Leslie Schover PhD”

[Used with kind permission of the author]

The Lewis Peat Calendar 2010

The original 2008 Lewis Peat Calendar was the brainchild of Jock Murray, a retired Metropolitan Police detective from Gress, Isle of Lewis and its aim was to raise funds for the Leukaemia Research Centre in Glasgow, after successful treatment there of a member of Jock’s family. The aim with the 2010 calendar is to raise as much money as possible for both Leukaemia Research and the Anthony Nolan Trust. For more information, please read the ‘About’ page.

In late August Jock, along with a number of volunteers (the “Hebridean Peatcutters”) and a film crew made the long road (and ferry) trip from Lewis to London, selling calendars and T-shirts in Stornoway, Inverness, Fort William, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sutton and finally Petticoat Lane in London, with several evening ceilidhs held along the way. A Gaelic/English documentary on the trip will be broadcast later in the year on BBC Alba.

With the London trip over, the emphasis now is on selling as many 2010 calendars as possible to help raise funds for these worthy causes. The 12-page calendars are priced at a very reasonable £6.00 each including postage: there are also available T-shirts in various colours and designs – for general inquiries and more details on the availability of T-shirts, please email jockmurray@talk21.com