Orkney crafters bare all for charity calendar

There are probably more comfortable places to set up a sewing machine than the middle of Sanday’s Peedie Sea in October.

But for Tracy Ranger, a table, some carefully positioned material and a willingness to embrace the slightly bonkers were all part of the preparations for an unusual anniversary celebration.

Tracy is Miss February in Sanday Craft Hub’s cheeky, Calendar Girls-inspired charity calendar for 2027, which sees ten women and two men bare it all while keeping their crafts and Orkney’s scenery firmly in the picture.

The venture celebrates the hub’s tenth anniversary next year while also raising money for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.

As for how the idea came about, Tracy admits there may have been “a few gins” involved.

“We really wanted to kind of do a few things to celebrate.”

Once proposed, however, the idea quickly gathered momentum.

David Warner, the hub’s creative sustainability co-ordinator and now Mr April, admitted the response took them by surprise.

“When the idea came up we did not expect there to be any takers, but the enthusiasm was overwhelming.”

With volunteers secured, the next task was finding someone to photograph them.

That responsibility fell to Jake Ghaleb, a fellow director and the hub’s secretary, whose talents extend from photography to making puppets and who also appears in the calendar himself.

Taken over a few days in early October, the pictures combine crafts with locations around Sanday.

The calendar showcases the island’s beaches, lighthouse, farming and way of life, alongside some crafty arrangements to preserve the participants’ modesty.

Tracy, a founding member, director and treasurer of the hub, knits, felts and makes jewellery. For her photograph, however, she took her sewing machine into bold new territory.

“It is slightly bonkers,” she said.

“I’m sat in the middle of the Peedie Sea here on Sanday with my sewing machine on a table, and I’m sewing.”

Material, she explained, covers “the parts it needs to cover”.

David’s April appearance finds him at Black Rock jetty, surrounded by rubbish collected from the beaches. It’s an unconventional setting that reflects another strand of the hub’s recycling work.

For anyone hoping for a fuller preview, the participants are keeping the photographs inside the calendar under wraps. Those wishing to see the results will have to buy a copy.

And they’ll be helping to keep an air ambulance flying.

Funds raised by calendar sales will go to Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance. Tracy said the decision required little debate, given that anyone on Sanday might one day need its help.

“They do an amazing job,” she said.

The calendar also celebrates the creative community Sanday is known for.

More than 70 artists and crafters now sell their work through the hub. That’s equivalent to over ten per cent of the island’s population.

Tracy feels the figure shows how much creativity there is in Sanday.

The not-for-profit organisation uses commission from sales to help run the hub, which also has a small café and hosts craft, glass and art groups.

“It’s a bit of everything, a social get-together place, and a place for folk to sell their work, too,” she said.

David, a painter who has been involved for four years, sees the encouragement and welcoming nature of the crafting community as central to its success.

“Making something yourself and putting it out there to be seen or sold, it takes a lot of guts,” he said.

“We want to support that, we never turn anything or anyone away.”

The hub’s sustainability work includes collecting material from beaches through organised cleans and individual efforts, and finding uses for discarded rope, ghost nets and plastic. Clothing reuse is another developing initiative, with unwanted fabric potentially becoming items such as dog beds.

For David, the energy behind these projects reflects both the hub’s welcoming atmosphere and Sanday’s long crafting heritage.

“Sanday has a long heritage of crafting and crafting communities. We had the Sanday knitters, and this, I feel, is carrying that on.

“It’s a really supportive and really lovely place.”

And, as its anniversary approaches, it’s clearly a place where members are willing to reveal a little more of their creative side.

The 2027 calendar is available from Sanday Craft Hub and online.