They are associated more with making jam and singing Jerusalem than jetsetting or high-jinks.

But the Women's Institute, one of Britain's oldest and most traditional ladies' societies, is determined to shed its fusty 'blue-rinse' image.

And in Worcestershire they are hoping to do it with a bit of help from the big screen.

Calendar Girls, a new movie just about to be released, charts the real-life story of a group of WI members from North Yorkshire who bare all for a fund-raising calendar.

It stars screen icons Helen Mirren and Julie Walters and according to Worcestershire federation chairman Suzanne Owen, it looks set to spark huge interest in the society.

"There has been a great response from people who have heard about the film and we are hoping to make as much out of it as we can," she said.

"I have already contacted the local Odeon cinema to see if we can do some sort of publicity drive while the film is running. Ideally we would like to set up a stall or something in the foyer for people to see when they come out.

"The hope is that Calendar Girls will make women realise how the WI women can make a real difference, as well as introducing people to the different aspects of the society."

The film follows the story of a group of 12 middle-aged ladies from Rylstone WI who, in 1999, stripped off to be photographed naked for a calendar in traditional WI poses, such as knitting, flower-arranging and cake-making.

The calendar shot the ladies to stardom, and raised more than £578,000 for leukaemia charities. Sales even outstripped those of pop goddess Britney Spears' raunchy effort.

Suzanne added that, following a recent radio interview about the WI, phone lines nationally have been jammed with new callers wanting to join.

And emergency print runs of promotional material were ordered to deal with the increased demand.

Many of these new members are young women keen to get involved in their communities, she says, although the biggest increases have been in London.

"It is difficult to say how many new members we are likely to get locally, but we hope the numbers will be quite significant."

But she was keen to add that not all of the expected rise in numbers will have come from the release of the film alone.

A concerted campaign throughout the county has already attracted a large amount of interest.

"We have held a number of different events that we hope have attracted the attention of people of all ages, even doing beer tasting at the Worcester Beer and Cider Festival earlier this month," she added.

"On Monday, September 15, on what is officially WI day, we are going to be at the CrownGate shopping centre where a number of our committee members will be demonstrating their various skills."

Last year, nationally, the ailing society unveiled a 30-point modernisation plan to attract career women aged in their 20s and 30s.

Measures include holding virtual meetings over the Internet, setting up creches to attract young mothers, and developing branches amongst office workers.

There are even plans to drop the tradition of singing Jerusalem, which dates from 1915, when the society was founded.

"We know as a society we have to keep with the times," added Suzanne.

"Life has changed for women dramatically since the WI was set up, and we are changing with it."

It isn't just the ladies from Rylstone WI who have showed they are willing to step out of the "blue rinse" mould.

In 2000, more than 800 members slow-clapped Prime Minister Tony Blair during his speech to the WI annual conference, in protest over forced closures of post offices across the country.

And last year, the ladies delivered another snub when they turned down an offer from former Government minister Yvette Cooper to speak at the conference in Brighton.

Now the society is hitting the headlines once more. And this time they are hoping new membership numbers, like the expected box office figures, will go through the roof.

"Hopefully the film will give us the boost we deserve. If it doesn't, we will do everything we can to make sure we do that ourselves," added Suzanne.

Calendar Girls hits British cinema screens on Friday, September 12.