Story by Tom Sadler
Sarah-Jane Madden is one of over 200 entrants into this year’s Miss Sheffield competition. She is 21 and is currently in her third year at Sheffield Hallam University studying psychology.
I went to speak to her and asked what made her want to enter the competition.
“I met the owner of Noel’s Secrets, who is organising the Miss Sheffield contest and is based in the Spital Hill Plaza. She asked me if I would be interested in competing. I told her I’d think about it and after much encouragement from my mum I decided to do it.”
The competition uses a text voting system to decide on the finalists in the regional heats, and you can see every contestant and their text number on the website http://www.misssheffield.com/.
Ages in the competition range from 15–30. Sarah told me that the competition also raises money for the charity, The Macmillan Cancer Fund. Sarah explained that personality, talent and intelligence play a major part in the judging side of the competition.
The contestants will go through an elimination round where half of the contestants will be dropped from the competition and half will go through to the final. The final will be held at the nightclub Blu Bambu in Rotherham.
I asked Sarah whether she thought that this competition would be a positive thing for Burngreave.
“I think that the Miss Sheffield contest will be a very beneficial to raising the profile of the organiser’s business. I would also like to thank all of the other local businesses for getting behind me as well and raising my profile by displaying my posters and rallying for votes on my behalf.”
I asked her what she would do if she won.
“Well that’s a long way off at the moment, but if I did win I would like to think that I would be able to fulfil my role for the year and represent Sheffield and Burngreave to the best of my ability at Miss England 2006. I would also like to continue at university and study for my PhD in psychology.”
To register your vote of support to Sarah text Miss160 to 80889. Texts cost 50p and all proceeds go to the Macmillan Cancer Trust.