A MAID dusting a statue, a lady washing a road sign and a woman mopping a roof – these are just some of the quirky pictures, shot on location in Derbyshire, in the "Clean Up For Cancer" calendar.

Those involved in producing it hope that by being photographed literally cleaning up, they will also do so metaphorically by making thousands of pounds for charity.

It took several months of hard work to create the 12 images, with each one taking about six hours to photograph.

The idea came from Melbourne resident Elaine Dunnicliff, who is recovering from kidney cancer.

She created a charity calendar last year, raising £7,500 for the Nightingale Macmillan unit at Royal Derby Hospital, and is now hoping to smash that figure by raising £10,000 with the 2010 calendar.

Miss Dunnicliff, 54, said: "I'm very chuffed with the way it's turned out. Everybody knows somebody with cancer so we wanted to give back to the Macmillan Unit, which deals with all types of the disease."

The theme, the ideas for each picture and the production of the calendar were the responsibility of Melbourne resident Anna Moult.

She said: "We wanted to create something that people would enjoy owning, even if they don't know any of the people in the picture."

The calendar begins with a picture of 96-year-old Marsie Price, of Melbourne, who has had breast and bowel cancer.

Ms Moult said: "The Melbourne sign in the January photograph places the calendar. There are lots of local dates in the calendar – when the carnival is, when the local schools break up for the holidays."

February shows Tim Spencer, a Melbourne plumber who was diagnosed with leukaemia last year, washing in a bath.

Ms Moult said: "We went to John Smith's the coal merchant, in Melbourne. We liked the contrast between the nice, clean white bath and the mountain of black coal behind him.

"John Smith transported the bath from where it normally sits outside Pool Cottage Residential Care Home full of flowers. He even re-sprayed it for the picture."

March shows Jenny Collyer, of Derby, who has been living with lung cancer since 2001, cleaning up a pile of manure left by Henry the horse.

And April is also animal-themed, featuring a huge white bull and Angela Bird, of Ticknall, who has been given the all-clear from breast cancer.

Joe Laban, of Melbourne, was photographed for May's image, despite being in the middle of treatment for a brain tumour following diagnosis about three years ago.

And June shows Julie Wendt, of Melbourne, who has recovered from breast cancer and was pictured mopping the roof of Staunton Harold Hall, near the village.

Ms Moult said: "First of all we had to think up the idea for each photo, then we had to find out who owned a cow or a stately home or a statue, then we had to say 'please can we take a picture', then make sure everyone was available. We took about 200 photographs for each month."

July shows Elaine Dunnicliff, while August features Craig Pykitt, of Burton, who is recovering from testicular cancer. He is washing the window of a shop, with the village's market place reflected in the glass.

September features Trish Murst-Bjorkman, also of Melbourne, who had a tumour removed from her thyroid gland.

October shows Gail Pykitt, of Burton, who is the grandmother of August's Craig Pykitt. She was photographed with her granddaughter Megan.

Ms Moult said: "Megan is the one exception to the rule that everyone in the calendar has had cancer. We've gone for the 'ahh' factor with her."

November shows the son of Melbourne councillor David Smith, 17-year-old Sam Smith.

He had cancer of the nerve tissue, known as neuroblastoma, as a child.

And for December, Malcolm Fletcher, of Melbourne, posed in drag outside the village toilets. He has leukaemia.

The final image is of Elaine Dunnicliff's mother, Mavis, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 1990 but went on to live another 19 years before dying aged 83 on January 5, 2009.

To buy a calendar, call Elaine on 07779 220847 or visit the Macmillan Information Centre, at Royal Derby Hospital, or Melbourne Post Office.