Englishman strips for charity

A couple of years ago, Colin Dobson wanted to raise money in memory of his mother-in-law, whose life was claimed by a progressive neurological disease. Dobson, an electrical contractor, personal trainer and mountain biker from Hemsworth, England, placed a wager on his Facebook page in December 2010 pledging to shovel snow naked if someone would donate £20 to his charity. Within an hour over £200 came in.

Colin Dobson

Dobson made good on his offer, shoveling snow, making a "snow angel" and posing behind a well-placed (and very long) icicle. For that, he raised £300 for the Brenda Fox Tribute Fund, which is aligned with the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Motor Neurone Disease is known in the United States as ALS or "Lou Gehrig's disease." The disorder selectively affects the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, swallowing, walking and body movement. Dobson's mother-in-law died of MND at age 64 in 2004.

Dobson has raised more than £6,000 for his charity from the snow-shoveling event and other activities: He stripped with plumbers, plasterers and gas fitters for a nude calendar, and he took part in an event involving skydiving daredevils, this time clothed.

Last month Dobson apparently ended his charity work, noting that he is closing down his Facebook fan page. His Web site, colindobsononline.com, already has been deactivated. You can still reach him at Twitter @colindobson.

Dobson, who is now 40, remains quite busy, though. He is focusing on his work as an elite personal trainer. He also has cycled 1,000 miles the length of the country in eight days. And he writes a newspaper column.

By the way, the idea to place the "censored" sign on his snow angel certainly was not mine. But congratulations to him for coming up with a clever and commendable way to raise funds for an important cause.

Several English newspapers, such as the one shown above, have reported on his exploits. In addition, he has been interviewed by radio reporters from the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

One of the photos was not used in the calendar. It's shown on his Facebook page.

Apparently Colin is not averse to removing his clothes on other occasions. This one was taken in August 2012 in Birmingham, where he was visiting friends. It appeared on his Facebook page.

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