They posed naked for a so-called ‘Yummy Mummies’ calendar – shot this weekend as the man at the centre of the Farepak scandal apologised to its 150,000 customers.

Nick Gilodi-Johnson said he was “devastated” by the firm’s collapse, which has left its clients, who have lost an average of £400 each, facing a miserable Christmas.

The saucy Cumbrian calendar was inspired by the famous Rylstone WI calendar in Yorkshire, which spawned the film Calendar Girls.

It was the idea of Anna Stewart, who runs a childminding business in Carlisle and also attends a mother and toddler group in St Nicholas St where the demise of Farepak has hit five mums and 14 children. She hopes to sell hundreds of copies of the calendar and will donate the proceeds to local Farepak victims.

The mother-of-three organised a photo-shoot at Venture studios in Carlisle, which offered facilities free of charge, on Friday night.

She said: “It went brilliantly. It was a long night, we didn’t finish until midnight but everyone was delighted with the results.

“All the girls were great sports and they really enjoyed themselves once they had a few drinks and built up a bit of Dutch courage.

“I want to thank the people at Venture, at the Atelia hair salon and at Carlisle College for their support.

“What we need now is for someone to sponsor the print run.”

Diana Cooper, style director at Venture, took the photographs.

She said: “A lot of the girls have been before to have work done so we were more than happy to help.

“We took their ideas on board and then refined them a little. They used a whole range of props to produce simple but bold images.”

Further help came from hair and beauty students at Carlisle College who made adjustments to hair and make-up.

Their lecturer, Lisa Bold, said: “We were delighted to help out because this is realistic work experience for our students.”

Anna would like anyone who can offer further help to contact her on 01228 548357.

She has also appealed for Farepak victims to give her phone numbers and proof of losses when they write.

A separate fund for families affected by the Farepak collapse has been set up by Workington MP Tony Cunningham and the Times & Star newspaper.

He said: “Christmas should be a happy time. To be left with nothing after you think you’ve been saving all year must be horrendous.”

Nationally, the government has set up an emergency fund.

Tesco has donated £250,000 and Sainsbury’s has agreed that customers who were saving for the supermarket’s vouchers with Farepak will receive 25 per cent of the value of their savings.

Christmas hamper supplier Park Group has announced it will donate £1m in shopping vouchers.

Mr Gilodi-Johnson has also promised to contribute.

In a statement at the weekend he blamed Farepak’s collapse on its bankers, Halifax Bank of Scotland – a claim the bank rejected.

He said: “What has happened to Farepak and its customers is nothing short of a tragedy.

“I feel its loss with immense sadness as it was a business my father founded and devoted his life to building and strengthening. We both cared passionately about it and about the fact it was able to help so many families through Christmas.

“I am gutted that everybody has lost out like this. I am really so sorry.”

The Department of Trade and Industry has launched an investigation.