Gemma's navy lark
Jun 22 2004
Midlands beauty Gemma Massey has answered an SOS from a cash-strapped Birmingham sea cadet group.
The aspiring model, aged 19, made a variety of stuffy naval uniforms look more glamorous as she posed for a charity calendar to help friends at the Training Ship Leopard Perry Barr marine cadets group.
Gemma, from Wilnecote, Tamworth, has already appeared in a successful calendar for a cancer charity through her employer Asda and has taken the first steps toward her dream of becoming a professional model.
She heard about the Training Ship Leopard's plight through her cousins Scott and Craig Mills, who are both members.
She said: "They get no money given to them, they have to raise it all themselves so I offered to help.
"I was not sure about the sailor's uniform at first, but they all said it looks good."
Her aunt Donna Mills, spokeswoman for the Cadets, said: "We had no trouble rustling up 12 uniforms for the calendar, including an arctic one for January."
Two years ago the Evening Mail revealed how the 45-strong group's council grant was cut leaving them to raise the £7,000 per year running costs themselves.
Donna said: "The navy only give us help with training, we get no financial support. The cadets have even been out delivering the Yellow Pages to raise money, that shows how committed they are."
They hope to put cash raised from the 2005 calendar towards a new minibus and possible work on their headquarters in Kingsdown Avenue.
Already professional model agency photographer Stuart Randle has offered to do the pictures free of charge at his studio but the group is looking for a printer to publish the calendar.
Anyone who can help should e-mail the cadets at the address
Tshipleopard@aol.com
