The world final of Miss Progress International launched their sixth edition this Friday evening with the arrival of all twenty-two contestants from around the world. This year the United Kingdom will be represented by Hannah Higgins (26) a junior doctor from Rotherham.I am very excited to represent the UK in this amazing event, and I really hope to make a difference to a lot of people with my treasure chest Project. – Hannah Higgins
Miss Progress International is a non-profit organisation, run by the Associazione Culturale and sponsored by #WeAreInPuglia. The competition celebrates the influence and change that woman can have on their communities by not only focusing on the natural beauty of the women taking part but by making the community project each candidate needs to submit a major part of the scoring.
Hannah has put a lot of thought and hard work into developing her project over the last six months and will be presenting this to the organisers on Monday morning. Her project aims to restore some dignity and recognition that children being taken into social care, should have a small protected space to call their own. Having been inspired by the work her parents do in Rotherham as foster carers, she noticed that many of the children taken into social care, keep their few personal belongings in a dustbin bag. Hannah’s project ‘The Treasure Chest Project’ will provide these young children with a suitcase they can put their precious belongings in along with some essentials to make sure their first few days away from home bearable. Miss Progress International awards the winner not only the title of Miss Progress International but also a prize of 10,000 euros to assist them in realising their project.
This project is something very close to Hannah’s heart and although she has recently begun a very demanding career as a junior doctor, she has found the time to progress her project, already establishing working relationships with her local authority.
We are working with our local foster agency, ‘Safe Base’ as our partners, who are helping us to distribute the cases and items to appropriate children. – Hannah Higgins
Hannah has been involved in the Pageant world for many years and has a background in working with lots of different charities (children’s, health, veterans, Motor neuron disease, and hospices) both in the UK and abroad, and she has raised over £5,000 for these various good causes. She has represented the UK in other pageants worldwide in an effort to raise awareness for marine conservation charities, however this is the first time she will be fundraising and starting her own charity
Although Miss Progress International has a serious side to it, it also has a fun element. All the finalists from around the world gather in Puglia for the international final. Puglia is a very beautiful and natural region in Southern Italy. Hannah and her co-finalists will get to spend an all-expenses paid, ten fun packed days in Puglia, enjoying the sunshine with a full schedule of varied activities. They will get to enjoy the beauty and be introduced to the rich culture of the region.
To learn more visit: http://www.missprogressinternational.com/news/?lang=en
Congratulations to Hannah and good luck!