A CHARMING photograph of a rabbit and a cat’s unlikely friendship taken by a Poole animal lover has been chosen as the cover shot for a national charity calendar.

Kirsty Godsell was overall winner in a photography competition run by Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care to find 12 special images for its Memorable Moments calendar in aid of Alzheimer’s Society.

The touching study of Kirsty’s house rabbit Dr Watson with Dangerous Beans, the cat she hand-reared from a few hours old, won over the public in an online vote.

Kirsty, a practice administrator at a veterinary surgery, said of her pets: “The two of them are the best of friends and like to share the window sill. When I saw them with the light coming through I thought it would make a good photograph.

“I was amazed to win the competition; I have never won anything before. It’s nice to get the recognition and know that other people felt the same way about the photograph.”

Kirsty, a keen photographer who studied the subject at university, won a weekend for two in London. She was also presented with a framed print of her entry.

Scrivens marketing manager, Martin Elwell, said: “We were delighted by the response to the competition. We received hundreds of images of landscapes, people, pets and other memorable moments. The 12 best ones chosen by our judges went to an online public vote and Kirsty’s was the clear winner to be our cover shot.”

The Memorable Moments calendar, priced £4.95, is available from Scrivens on High Street, Poole, its branches around the country and online at www.scrivens.com/product/alzheimers-society-calendar

Every penny raised will go to Alzheimer’s Society, Scrivens’ chosen charity for a third successive year. It was chosen because of the growing evidence of a link between uncorrected hearing loss and dementia, including Alzheimer’s.