AN AMBITIOUS young woman from Minehead has founded the first independent beauty pageant in Somerset.

Morgan Mancini, 18, decided to set up the Face of Purity Beauty Pageant with her mum, Charlie, after noticing things that could be improved upon at competitions she had entered herself.

The West Somerset College student said: “I have been going to pageants since I was 15 and some aspects of them have made me feel uncomfortable or stressed, so I wanted to use my experience and create one which is really well-run.

“I didn’t want to do it before now because I was in the middle of my A Levels but after that I was chatting about the idea with my mum.

“She suggested a venue, then we came up with a name and thought we would go for it.

“Organising the pageant has taken a lot of hours, emails and calls. It’s a big step up for me. When you enter a pageant you don’t realise how much work goes into it behind the scenes.

“But entering them myself has given me some extra knowledge which has helped me with organising my first one.

“There are no other independent pageants in Somerset – only rounds or heats for larger competitions so we wanted to do this to get more girls in this area involved.”

The pageant will take place at Wellington School on October 19 and there are alreadymore than 60 entrants from around the country, in four different age categories – four to seven, eight to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 plus.

Morgan added: “Normally if you are married or have children you can’t enter pageants but there aren’t any rules like that.

“There are no height or weight limits – we want to celebrate the beauty and diversity of every woman and be much more inclusive.

“Also, instead of an interview round, which can be very stressful, we have incorporated a charity round where each entrant raises money for their chosen charity and the total raised goes to the winner’s choice.”

The pageant will be supporting the foundation People against Gun and Knife Crime and has been made possible through backing from Bridgwater-based Harris and Harris Construction.

To find out more about the pageant or for details on how to enter, visit faceofpurity.weebly.com