A FUNERAL firm has joined forces with a photographer to produce a fundraising calendar.

Wildlife in the garden of Co-op Funeralcare in Otley has been captured on camera by local photographer Hollie Rushton to collate the unique 2022 calendar.

The initiative was launched to raise money for Wildlife Friendly Otley after the charity helped to revamp the funeral home's garden to encourage more wildlife.

The partnership with Hollie was particularly poignant as the firm had helped to organise services for her father and grandmother.

In addition to helping raise awareness of the fauna native to the Otley area, the project helped Hollie overcome her grief following her father and grandmother’s deaths. The idea to collaborate for the benefit of local wildlife came after staff at the Otley funeral home organised the services for Hollie’s loved ones, as they were aware of how important it was to help bereaved family members focus on passion projects in order to work through the pain of losing a loved one.

The calendar, which includes original imagery captured throughout the past year by Hollie, was printed and sold to local people, raising £150 for Wildlife Friendly Otley. There are now hopes of releasing a new calendar in 2023, which will include imagery of wildlife across the whole town.

Rob Tindall, Funeral Director at the Co-op Funeralcare in Otley, said: “It’s incredible to see how a few small changes can make such a huge impact on how wildlife-friendly the green areas in our local communities are. We were so pleased to be involved with this initiative and look forward to working on next year’s calendar.

"This initiative was also a great reminder of the little things you can do to help those dealing with loss. We encourage everyone to check in on their friends, neighbours and co-workers, as you never know who may be dealing with bereavement and in need of something else to channel their energy and passion into.”

Wildlife Friendly Otley is a small charity run by local volunteers working to make Otley the first 'wildlife friendly town' in the UK.

The group works to protect and help local wildlife by encouraging and educating people and organisations to be more wildlife friendly.

Its website says: "We have lots of ideas here to help you to see, enjoy, learn more about and help our wildlife which has suffered dramatic decline in the last 40 years."