Littlehampton girl into finals of Miss England 2024

Nineteen-year-old Imogen Browne has advanced from the semi-finals, which were held in Blackpool last week, to reach the showcase event, sponsored by Waterman’s Hair, at Grand Station in Wolverhampton on May 16 and 17.

Imogen will take her place alongside 40 other contestants to see who will be following in the footsteps of the current Miss England and newly-crowned Miss United Kingdom, Jessica Gagen.

The winner of Miss England 2024 will go forward to the 72nd Miss World next spring.

Imogen revealed she hoped winning the prestigious competition would inspire other girls that have struggled in education.

She said: “If I was lucky enough to be crowned Miss England I would love to put across that exams don’t have to define you.

“It doesn’t make you less of a person if you don’t get top marks, you just need to find your passion and work towards your goals with kindness.

“I hope to put across that good grades or not what is so much more important is the ability to connect with people, work hard in something your good at and how a smile can speak a thousand warm words.

“I would like to be an inspiration for girls and women by winning Miss England who didn’t necessarily excel at school.

“I am a woman who finds it hard to sit still for too long and have always found exams and studying to be a challenge.

“Over the years I have realised that my strength lies in kindness, personality and working hard in practical hands on work.

“I myself have taken inspiration from my parents who didn’t get top grades but now run a successful business.”

Imogen is a fully-qualified dog groomer, and runs her own award-winning dog grooming business.

She is also involved with a street dog charity based in Thailand, and hoped to use the Miss England platform to raise awareness of the charity’s work.

Imogen added: “My passion has always been working with animals. This is the reason why I set up my own business, Mrs Paws dog grooming.

“I won best in show at a grooming competition so I hope they all felt like the doggie kings and queens that they should!

“One of the charities that I raised money for during the fund raising part of this competition is Happy Doggo. I groomed over 35 dogs for a small fee and made them feel fabulous!

“Happy Doggo is a charity based in Thailand that is focusing on sterilising and feeding street dogs. They currently feed over 800 dogs per day.

“They managed to sterilise just over 2,000 dogs last year and this year their goal is 20,000. This would save over 100,000 dogs being born into suffering. Sterilisation is the one answer that will make such a difference in years to come.

“This is just one of the amazing animal charities that care for street dogs and I would love to have the opportunity to raise awareness through the Miss England title and help in anyway I could.”

Imogen won’t be the only girl flying the flag for Sussex at the finals. Faye Cann, 20, from Brighton, has also qualified from the semi-finals.

Faye works in paralegal, and is also the longboard dance champion of South East England.

Both Imogen and Faye will be taking part in the Miss England 2024 finals, sponsored by Watermans Hair, on May 16 and 17 at the Grand Station, Wolverhampton.

The Miss England national final tickets are now on sale here.