A CHRISTMAS wish has come true for an amateur photographer, thanks to the community of Winsford.

Philip Carden loves capturing images of the town and often shares them on social media. His shots have also featured on regional TV weather reports.

The 57-year-old was hoping to get his pictures published in a calendar but his camera broke.

Winsford mum-of-three Stacy Curzon enjoyed seeing his images and raised £200 from a JustGiving page to get his equipment fixed.

As it happened, Philip repaired the camera himself and wellwishers decided to use the money raised to fund his charity calendar.

Stacy, 44, said: "The community of Winsford all chipped in and made this possible. Philip's images are lovely and a lot of people don't get to see them."

Winsford author John Malam offered to help select 12 pictures from thousands that Philip had taken, edit them and liaise with the Neuromuscular Centre's social enterprise NMC Design+Print to design a calendar on a limited budget.

They managed to fit the job in before Christmas and printed a pocket sized calendar. It has proved so popular that the first print run of 50 copies has already been snapped up!

It is being launched on Saturday in the town library.

Philip, of Alamein Drive, said: "I would like to thank the Winsford community for giving me such wonderful

support and for making this calendar possible.

"I have lived in Winsford all my life and in recent years I have developed a passion for photography and have learnt a lot through my own experience of taking pictures. Looking at things in different ways and various angles has given me a 'camera eye'.

"I found out that Canada Geese wake up when the sun is in their eyes so I will be trying to capture them taking off."

Philip believes his home town has a lot of attractive places.

"We have some lovely countryside and the town is developing," he said. "I hope I've woken up a lot of people to what we have around us.

"I am looking for work in photography so if any companies are interested I would like to hear from them.

"I have a lot of interests and want do develop myself in the community a bit more."

All the proceeds from the calendar are being donated to the mayor's charity fund which this year is supporting the Winsford branch of the Royal British Legion and Alzheimer's Society.