Almost a decade ago, 11 middle-aged stalwarts of the Rylestone WI stripped for a calendar, with strategically placed cakes preserving their modesty, to raise money for Leukaemia Research, after member Angela Baker's husband, John, died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, aged 54.
Their brazen good intentions struck a chord around the world, inspiring the film, The Calendar Girls, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
Sales of three separate calendars and earnings from the 2003 film have raised £1.5 million for Leukaemia Research so far.
In a deal with Whitakers Chocolates of Skipton, North Yorks, images from the original 1999 calendar appear on wrappers in a box of 12 pieces of plain chocolate.
The Calendar Girls box is available from Waitrose and online from Leukaemia Research for £1.99, with 20p going to the charity.
It hopes to raise at least £200,000. Three of the original WI friends, Beryl Bamforth, Tricia Stewart and Angela Knowles, helped launch the chocolates in London yesterday.
Mrs Knowles, 61, said: "Never in a million years did we think it would still be going on eight years after we started. I'd love to get to £2 million.
We have signed a deal with Disney for the film to be made into a stage show and there is also a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.''
