Telford's Rashae in Miss England bid
A Shropshire woman is in the running to be the next Miss England – after signing up in memory of her best friend.
Rashae Peart is through to the semi-finals of the national beauty contest after winning votes from both judges and the public.
The 19-year-old, from Wellington, Telford, now plans to use her time in the competition to do good work for charity.
Rashae, who is a student at the London Metropolitan University, said she wanted to take part in the competition in memory of her friend Layla Pitt, who died eight years ago.
She said: "We went to the same Ballet school, Carmichael, and we were best friends so I wanted to do it in her memory."
Layla died of a brain haemorrhage on holiday in Porthmadog in August 2008.
As well as competing to win the competition, Rashae intends to raise as much money as possible for the Beauty with a Purpose charity, organised by Miss England, which helps good causes across the UK.
On April 16 she will be holding a coffee morning at a cafe in Shrewsbury before doing a 10k bike ride around Telford on May 28.
Rashae is now set to take part in the semi-final competition, which will take place on June 11 at Kelham Hall in the Trent Valley.
She will compete with 60 other girls in a bid to win one of just 10 places in the final. She will be up against Shrewsbury's Seren Vivienne, who got through to the semi-final in heat one.
The girls will all need to raise money for the competition's Beauty with a Purpose charity and take part in a sports and eco fashion round – where they will have to create an outfit from recycled material.
Miss England 2016 will be chosen at a three-day national final in Southport later this year.
The winner will spend her year raising awareness for various charities and will receive a whole host of prizes worth £30,000, including a luxury holiday and a place in Miss World 2016 which boasts a prize worth £100,000 for the international winner.
