A BUNCH of Swansea car dealers have bared all to raise money to help care for premature babies — with just gear knobs, steering wheels and other handy items to hide their modesty.

Workers from Day's, in Plasmarl, were inspired to strip off by the touching story of baby Cerys Lynn.

When the six-month-old daughter of 27-year-old employee James first arrived into the world prematurely on May 11, she weighed in at just over three pounds.

Her worried family spent an anxious two weeks at Singleton Hospital's special care baby unit.

Because of her size, both her mum Catrin Griffiths, aged 32, and her dad, of Penlan, were only allowed to hold little Cerys for short periods of time.

But after a fortnight to three weeks they were allowed to take her home from hospital, after she reached a healthier weight.

It was the support and care offered by the staff at the baby unit, which led James to dream up the idea of a special thank-you for all they have done .

James, who works as a customer adviser in the Peugeot section of Day's, said: "Cerys was tiny, she would fit into the size of my hand. She was born four weeks early after she stopped growing. Cerys was in an incubator and was on all the monitors at the special care baby unit in Singleton and needed a tube for feeding.

"We were limited to two people in the room and were allowed to stay down there. We were later allowed to take her into the family room where other people could see her and hold her."

He added: "She's been fine since."

James said he was truly grateful for the support of his firm Day's, which put up £3,000 to fund the production of 2,000 calendars in aid of the Singleton unit.

He said: "I thought about the calendar idea a few months after Cerys was born. It took a while to get everything planned and it's cost over £3,000 to make."

James hopes £10,000 will be raised towards the hospital department.

Meanwhile, a DVD of out-takes from the photo shoot has also been created, which will also go on sale.

James said: "The team of staff that work in the baby unit need as much help and support that can be given.

"In making this calendar I hope that all the money raised will at least ease some of the strain they are being put under by purchasing some new equipment that will assist their everyday work."

He has said a special thank-you to the photographer Natalie Hemingway, along with her assistant Sammy Martin, and also to Claire D'Auria, Wendy Martin and Holly Day for their support.

Cerys's dad said he was also grateful to Café Chino, which supplied food and drink during the photo-shoot, and Asda, for donating cash.

He also thanked Aaron Williams and Andrew James, for their support.

But he said without the help of his 38 colleagues the calendar would not have been possible.

"There were 38 workers in total," he added. "They could not wait to get their clothes off — all of them.

"They all gave up their free time and I want to say a big thank-you to them."

The 2010 Naked calendar, which costs £4.99, and the out-takes DVD, which will cost £1.99, and will be on sale in the next couple of weeks, is available by contacting James at Day's on 01792 616087.

elizabeth.perkins@swwmedia.co.uk