CANOE instructors on the River Wye came up with an oar-some fund-raising idea when they shed their clothes for charity.

Handsome staff at the Wye Valley Canoe Centre in Glasbury are fast collecting an army of fans after the majority posed naked in a variety of strategically modest calendar shots.

Proprietor Jane Hughes said: “Two local students studying photography at university, Michela Rogers and Kate Hayward, offered to take the photographs and have done a wonderful job – although it must have been a tough assignment!”

Their popularity is good news for the County Air Ambulance, Brecon’s Usk House Hospice, carers charity Crossroads and nurses from Macmillan Cancer Support, who are set to collectively receive £10,500 when all 1,500 calendars are sold.

The 2010 calendar is available for £10 from the River Cafe in Glasbury, from Flow, Chattels, Pembertons and Golesworthys in Hay-on-Wye, or by e-mailing info@wyevalleycanoes.co.uk.