This year’s competition was bigger and better than ever before, with the girls and guys raising a staggering £120,000 for The Joshua Foundation!!

Unlike previous years the 2009 competition saw the introduction of 22 regional heats. This meant that from mid September 08 though until early March 09 regional events were held across Wales, with the top three girls from each region going through to the overall final of the Miss Wales 2009 competition.

The regional heats were a massive success, as each of the girl’s was set a target of raising £100 each for the charity. Some girls smashed this target and went on to raise hundreds of pounds and some even raised thousands!

The regional heats also provided a wonderful platform for group fundraising. Each of the regions had a bag pack, a pub raid and/ or a street collection, which was arranged by the charity for the girls to take part in. These activities helped bring the girls together and also raise awareness of the charity across the whole of Wales. All of the girls who took part in these activities said they really enjoyed it and it was a great opportunity to get to know the other girls in their region.

By the time all of the regional heats had taken place an amazing £65,000 had already been raised for children with terminal cancer! Each of the finalists were then encouraged to continue fundraising until the final to help the charity reach its £100,000 goal under the Miss World ‘Beauty with a purpose’ banner.

Over the last couple of months the girls have undertaken various fundraising activities, which have included; selling the charities Christmas and Easter raffle tickets, right through to jumping out of airplanes, washing cars and even creating cook books and Calendars to sell!

All of the girls put their hearts and souls into their fundraising and came up with some weird and wonderful ways to raise cash for the charity.

At the beginning of June another dimension was added to the competition, with 30 Mister Wales contestants also coming on board. On 5th July we gathered the guys and girls together at Chepstow Dive centre, to take part in a sponsored activity day, which saw 25 of the girls and 25 of the guy’s abseil down a 200ft cliff into a boat and also take part in various team building activities. The day was a massive success and everyone involved had a fantastic day.

The Miss Wales/ Mister Wales charity ball took place on Friday 17th July at the Holland House hotel in Cardiff. Ceri Booth won the ‘Beauty with a purpose’ award, which was presented by Julia Morley, the head of the Miss World organization. Miss World was also in attendance along with Miss Wales 2008, Chloe Beth Morgan.

Ceri raised an astonishing £6,767.70 for the Joshua Foundation, but was closely followed by Kathryn Lane who raised a tremendous £6,705.59!

The final of the competition was then held on at the CIA in Cardiff on Saturday 18th July. The evening saw Lucy Whitehouse from Barry being crowned Miss Wales 2009 and Mark Tancock crowned Mister Wales 2009.

Ceri Booth won Miss Charity 2009 and Luke Bolwell Williams won Mister charity by raising a fantastic £1,600 in just 5 weeks! (For a full list of awards that were presented on the night please visit the Miss Wales website).

The night was also very special for three young ladies from the local oncology unit, who came along to present the winners with their prizes. Jade Edwards, Ashleigh Tanner and Alysha Bunston came to the charity ball and the final along with the rest of their families and were treated like the real celebrities of the night, as they were picked up and taken home by stretch limo.

The contestants of the Miss Wales/ Mister Wales 2009 competition have been a privilege to work with and have shown what really can be achieved when you put your mind to it.