A Royton craft beer house is launching a naked charity calendar in support of a Middleton man diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Punters at The Secret Sip have stripped off for a 2019 calendar in aid of Neil’s Appeal, a Fundraising Group under the umbrella of the Brain Tumour Research charity. Organised by Chris Ashley, owner of The Secret Sip, the group of men are baring all in support of Neil Taylor, a 33-year old brain tumour patient.

Neil, who is a family friend of Chris’, was diagnosed with a grade 3 astrocytoma in early 2017 when he was expecting his first child with wife Alex. He underwent surgery and treatment and the couple soon after set out to fundraise towards research into the disease and set up Neil’s Appeal.

Chris, 39, said: “I was looking for ways to support Neil’s Appeal when one of the regulars at The Secret Sip suggested we do a charity calendar – not just a normal calendar but a Calendar-Girls-style calendar. I put the idea out there to some of the men on our sports teams and they were all on board. It’s fantastic that they wanted to help even though they don’t know Neil. It’s a fun way to raise money and awareness and I hope the funds raised will make a difference.”

Posing in the calendar are cheeky chappies Lee Clough, Liam Whitehead, David Royle, Chris Ashley, Mark Cartwright, Tom Ashcroft, Paul Mellor, Mark Curran, Ben Arthur, Geoff Abram, Adam Robertson, Lee Smethurst, Andy Eastwood, Tom Gledhill and Craig Simpson. Those lucky enough to get their hands on a copy will see the men sporting everything from footballs and cycling helmets to festive Santa hats (and not much else!).

The big reveal will take place at The Secret Sip on Middleton Road on Saturday 8 December. A signed photobook of the ‘Calendar Boys’ will be auctioned and the calendars will be available to buy for £10 each.

Neil, who lives in Middleton with Alex and their one-year-old daughter Annabelle, said: “Thank you to everyone at The Secret Sip for supporting us and helping to fund the fight against brain tumours. The most incredible thing about setting up Neil’s Appeal has been all the support we’ve been getting from our friends, family and even strangers. Chris and I are family friends but I don’t know the rest of the guys who have stripped off for the calendar. It’s amazing that strangers would go to that length to support me and the thousands of others who are dealing with this disease.”

Andrea Pankiw, community fundraising manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are extremely grateful to The Secret Sip for creating this calendar in aid of Neil’s Appeal which will help us raise awareness of how devastating this disease is. It’s incredible that these men have dared to bare it all in support of Neil, even though the majority of them don’t have a personal connection with him.

“Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this disease.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated Centres of Excellence in the UK; it also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is calling for an annual spend of £35m in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia.

To purchase a calendar, contact Chris at thesecretsipcraftbeer@gmail.com or make a donation to Neil’s Appeal at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/neil-taylor27

For further information, please contact:

Farel James at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867221 or 07592 502708 or Farel.James@braintumourresearch.org

Brain Tumour Research Press Releases – Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK dedicated to raising funds for continuous and sustainable scientific research into brain tumours, and we are a leading voice calling for greater support and action for research into what scientists are calling the last battleground against cancer.

We are building a network of experts in sustainable research at dedicated Centres of Excellence whilst influencing the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more nationally.

We welcome recent funding announcements for research into brain tumours from the UK Government and Cancer Research UK – £65 million pledged over the next five years. However, this potential funding of £13 million a year comes with a catch – money will only be granted to quality research proposals and, due to the historic lack of investment, there may not be enough of these applications that qualify for grants from this pot.

We want research funding parity with breast cancer and leukaemia. We are calling for a £30-35 million investment every year for research into brain tumours in order to fund the ground-breaking research needed to accelerate the translation from laboratory discoveries into clinical trials and fast-track new therapies for this devastating disease.

The Brain Tumour Research charity is a powerful campaigning organisation and represents the voice of the brain tumour community across the UK. We helped establish and provide the ongoing Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Brain Tumours (APPGBT) which published its report Brain Tumours A cost too much to bear? in 2018. Led by the charity, the report examines the economic and social impacts of a brain tumour diagnosis. We are also a key player in the development strategy for the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. 

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• Historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours
• In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia
• Brain tumours kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• Brain tumours kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers

Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website. We can also provide case studies and research expertise for the media.