THIS year's Wainwright Society Calendar will raise money for Animal Rescue Cumbria, a cause that Alfred Wainwright himself was passionate about. 

Every year the Society produces calendars raising funds for charitable bodies Wainwright would have wanted to be associated with. 

This year's calendar will be £12 for delivery within in the UK.

Wainwright died in 1991 but he was openly fond of animals in his lifetime, it was often said that he preferred animals to people. 

He dedicated Book 3 of the Pictorial Guides to the Dogs of Lakeland. After he retired he donated most of the royalties from his books to Animal Rescue Cumbria and raised a capital sum large enough for the charity to purchase a site at Grayrigg to re-home cats and dogs.

The Mail: An example of this year's calendarAn example of this year's calendar

It is the charity's 50th anniversary and the society's 20th. The two bodies are working together to raise funds for a charity close to Wainwright's heart. 

Animal Rescue Cumbria continues to need funds to support its work. Whilst the animal accommodation was state-of-the-art when the site at Kapellan was developed in the 1980s, animal care standards have moved on. There is a greater emphasis now on rescue shelters providing as natural an environment as possible for the animals.

The team at Animal Rescue Cumbria want to enhance their facilities to this end. Some funding towards their £50,000 project has already been secured, but the Society’s fund-raising through the calendar will be put to the benefit of the shelter’s cats.   

Marion Yates, the general manager of Animal Rescue Cumbria said: "We were founded back in 1972 as a cat rescue organisation, and Alfred and Betty had a particular love of cats.

"It seems fitting in this anniversary year to do something special for our feline residents. The planned open-air facilities will allow our cats to climb, hide and explore, enjoy fresh air and natural vegetation, and bask in the sun in summer.

"This will greatly reduce the stress of living in the unnatural environment of a cattery. We have been so generously supported by the Wainwright Society in recent years and cannot thank the membership enough for their continuing support."