Special day for Hawke's Bay kids with role in NZ Firefighters Calendar

Christizenna Lamusitele, 3, shows off her beads for the camera while dressed in a firefighter's uniform. Photo / Paul Taylor

Seven Hawke's Bay children with cancer were given a special chance to dress up and be a part of the annual New Zealand Firefighters Calendar on Sunday.

The "beefcake" days are behind the calendar, which has been running for 31 years but now chooses to feature children who benefited from Fire and Emergency NZ's partner charity, the Child Cancer Foundation.

The children posed for photos with the beads they've earned for hospital visits, as well as various shots of them doing firefighting activities with adult firefighters.

Seven of the 12-month charity calendar photos were shot at Havelock North Fire Station after a last-minute venue change due to alert level 2 restrictions over the weekend. The five others were shot earlier in Auckland.

Auckland-based production manager and veteran firefighter Tony Scott said he was looking forward to seeing how the calendar worked out.

Photographer Bex Chatteris captures a charming shot of firefighter Katie Owen and 3-year-old Christizenna Lamusitele. Photo / Paul Taylor

"This is the fourth year of the new-look calendar," he said. "Previous to that, it was the beefcakes."

Fire and Emergency New Zealand's new approach to the calendar had "worked really well", Scott said.

The reason the region was chosen was reflective of the strong support shown by local firefighters fundraising for the Sky Tower run, an event also organised by Scott.

He said children were partnered with local firefighters.

"We wanted to get a truly New Zealand calendar, we like to shoot part of it in a different region of the country.

"We also want to incorporate a few things that are Hawke's Bay in the picture like the Sound Shell or a bit of deco architecture."

Scott said they had raised more than $1 million for the Child Cancer Foundation since the calendars began, with a minimum of $2 per calendar going towards the charity.

"We get a lot of donations given over and beyond that."

He said calendars would be available by mid-September.