[A] young Penrith woman, Hannah Bradley, aged 21, has been crowned the new Miss Cumbria after participating in the contest on Saturday evening.
The competition, which is part of the prestigious Miss England competition, involves fundraising for Variety the Children’s Charity, engaging and volunteering in the community, and promoting the charity and the competition by the positive use of social media.
On Saturday evening the competitors participated in four separate rounds – EcoWear, Sports, Party Wear and Evening Dress. Awards were given for Eco, Publicity, Community, Personality and Charity, as well as the awarding of the overall title.
Hannah was successful in winning the Charity award, having raised over £2800 for Variety and the Community award, which was awarded in the name of Skye Mitchell who was a previous competitor of the contest. Skye tragically passed away in a car accident in July of last year, and the honour is now given to those who work tirelessly within their communities – as Skye herself did. For the Eco round competitors are asked to create an outfit out of used/donated/recycled materials around a central theme – which was Our World. In the Sport round the competitors demonstrate their sporting prowess and in party wear they have fun and show the friendships made during the contest. The final round is the showpiece Evening Wear round.
This is the third time Hannah has competed in Miss Cumbria so is keen to stress to others that perseverance can pay off! Hannah said “I am beyond excited to have been awarded the title – myself and the other girls have worked so hard in the run up to the contest and I am so pleased to be able to continue that as I progress forward.”
Hannah now moves to the semi final of the Miss England competition, which is held at Kelham Hall in Nottinghamshire in July. The highest placed participants in the semi final move forward to the Miss England grand final which is held later in the summer.
Hannah said: “I would like to thank everyone who has helped me during my preparations for the competition – from businesses who have donated services, goods or time, to individuals have donated at my charity events and of course to my friends and family. My biggest thanks have to be for my parents, Neil and Sue, and my boyfriend Dan who have all supported me tirelessly and always been there for me throughout this whole experience. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Hannah is now in the process of organising her first major event as Miss Cumbria and raising funds for Beauty With a Purpose – details will be released soon.
Charlotte Mitton, 15, from Carlisle was crowned Junior Miss Cumbria 2018.
Charlotte said: “Becoming Junior Miss Cumbria 2018 has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. I also made some amazing new friendships and gained more confidence.
“I want to thank Abbie Wilson for her endless support and my family for being there for me through everything, I hope I do Cumbria proud.”