IT’S the middle of summer, the holiday season is in full swing and the Huddersfield Giants are getting their kit off for Christmas.

But while their fans are heading for the beach to disrobe, several members of the Giants squad were in the all-together in a winter wonderland with Santa Claus looking on and yo-ho-hoing at what he could see.

His little helpers couldn’t believe their eyes as a number of Giants players including Super League stars Eorl Crabtree, Kevin Brown, Michael Lawrence and Paul Whatuira stripped off in the middle of a factory owned by one of the country’s biggest Christmas decoration suppliers.

There were plenty of baubles on display in the Huddersfield warehouse – and lots of Christmas decorations too.

But it was all for a good cause as the Giants are backing a deserving Huddersfield charity, the Laura Crane Trust.

The players were at the Lockwood base of top Christmas tableaux suppliers K D Decoratives for the photoshoot, by Huddersfield photographer Mark Hemingway.

They were there to pose for a series of tasteful pictures which will be used in a 2010 calendar, the profits from which will go to the Laura Crane Trust. Giants players Andy Raleigh and Jamahl Lolesi are volunteers for the Trust, which helps to fund research into cancers which affect 13 to 24 year olds.

It was formed after the death of Huddersfield student Laura Crane, who succumbed to two rare forms of cancer and died in May 1996 aged just 17.

Laura’s mother Jacqui Roeder said: “The charity was set up as a tribute to Laura, whose bright and bubbly, outgoing nature never stopped shining, even throughout her terrible illness and whose courage and dignity, for one so young, were astounding.

“I believe that life is tough enough, in various ways, during our teenage years, without throwing cancer into the equation.

“In the hope of ultimately protecting other young people and their families from the tragedy and trauma that we had known, I decided, the day Laura died to pick up the fight where she left off, hoping to raise about. £10,000 a year to fund research, specifically into cancer in teenagers and young adults. The trust, however, passed its first £1,000,000 mark in little over 10 years!”

The charity helps teenage cancer patients by offering funding to UK hospitals to provide games consoles, TVs and stereo equipment.

Raleigh and Lolesi had little trouble persuading their fellow Giants to pose for the calendar and Mark Hemingway had the players posing with nothing but a length of rope to cover them as they hauled Santa, a current England international, on his sleigh.

Mark, who is the Laura Crane Trust’s volunteer photographer, has a number of other locations where he’ll be snapping the Giants in the raw.

One spot is high up in the breezy Pennines where it might be a bit chillier.

The calendar will be on sale in the autumn but the Examiner is able to bring a sneak preview one of the more modest shots.