In a Glittering Ceremony held at The ICC in Birmingham on 3rd May 2009, Clair Cooper from London was crowned Miss UniverseGB 2009, with Sophie Johnson coming as 2nd Runner Up and Lydia Yhnell 1st Runner Up.

She will have a very busy year ahead of her whilst preparing for the Miss Universe 2009 Final in the Bahamas.

35 young women from England, Scotland and Wales took to the stage with such dedication. The girls had 3 catwalk rounds to compete in such as the little black dress round, the bikini round and the stunning ball gown round.

The Joshua Foundation had organised 3 girls and their families from The Children’s Oncology Unit in Birmingham to join us for this spectacular event. They travelled in style by Limousine, met the judges and had wonderful pictures taken with them and they had the chance to present the awards to Miss Charity, the 2 runners up and of course Miss UniverseGB 2009. Just before they left for their Limousine ride home, The Joshua Foundation presented the girls with a luxury hamper from Harvey Nichols filled with delicious sweets!!

The panel of 9 judges included DIY SOS’s Nick Knowles, UK’s Leading Make Up Artist Sue Moxley, Gladiators Predator (Du’aine Ladejo) and Siren (Amy Guy) Glamorous TV presenter Lizzie Cundy, Big Brother Winner 2008 Rachel Rice, Radio’s Tim Lichfield, Chief Executive of Miss Bollywood Zia Choudhury and Owner of Birmingham SAK’s Hairdressing Jason Hayward.

As the chosen charity of the 2009 Miss UniverseGB competition, the contestants carried out fundraising on behalf of The Joshua Foundation, and in just over 4 months they raised a staggering £32,000, and with money still coming in, this figure is set to rise!! Holly Ikin from Warrington claimed the title of Miss Charity raising £4677.85 - what an achievement, and whilst only one contestant can be crowned Miss UniverseGB 2009, in our eyes all the contestants are winners.

Events ranged from fashion shows, auctions and quiz nights to name a few, and The Joshua Foundation would like to extend a sincere Thanks to every contestant.

Thank you to everyone who was involved and to all the girls. Good Luck in the Future and I am sure you will succeed in anything that you set your mind too!!