PUB landlord Jamie Newman vowed never to hold charity events again after he was duped into fundraising for a fictitious cause.
The experiences of former barmaid Katie Wolff, who conned punters into raising cash for her when she made up a story she had a daughter that had died from leukaemia, put him off doing anything for charity ever again.
But now regulars at the George and Dragon Pub in Downe High Street have bared all for the Downe Trousers, a calendar of men posing naked in aid of cystic fibrosis sufferers.
A total of 500 calendars are being sold at £5 each in memory of barmaid Natalie Ford, who died of the illness aged 25 in April last year, leaving a daughter now aged five.
Father-of-two Mr Newman says the community has been “revitalised” by this latest fundraiser.
The 56-year-old said: “After Katie Wolff I said I wouldn’t do any more charity events as it hurt so much.
“We were all shaken up and ashamed about what happened.
“But this is totally under control, there’s no doubt with this one.”
He added: “It’s been such a good and lifting thing for the pub and the people in this village.”
Natalie’s sister Kay Ford, who works at the pub, lost her other sister Andrea, 10, to cystic fibrosis in 1985.
Mother-of-three Kay, aged 38, of Artington Close, Farnborough, said: “It means such a lot that everyone thought so much of Natalie to get involved and pull it all together.
“It’s been a great experience.
“My whole life has been lived around this illness.”
To buy a calendar call the pub on 01689 889030 or visit downetrousers.co.uk
LEUKAEMIA DEATH CON
Former barmaid Katie Wolff began spinning her web of lies when she told her employers she could not come to work because her two-year-old daughter had broken her leg.
When she returned to the pub, she said her child had been diagnosed with leukaemia and had managed to get a bone marrow donor for a transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
But she later broke the news her daughter had died.
Devastated staff at the pub rallied round and held a charity night to raise money for the funeral.
However Wolff, aged 20, was caught out when she later claimed her daughter’s headstone had been vandalised.
Staff realised a headstone would not have been put up so soon after a funeral and it quickly emerged Wolff never had a daughter in the first place.
Wolff had used the identity of her best friend’s two-year-old daughter.
Wolff, then of Claremont Close, Orpington, was ordered to do 180 hours’ unpaid work after pleading guilty to one charge of fraud by false representation to the value of £558.
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