PRESS RELEASE: Miss African Spirit 2010 - Charity Begins at Home

The Miss African Spirit pageant takes place this month on the 22nd May 2010 in Milton Keynes and is set to coincide with Africa Day festivities. Part of the pageant’s appeal, and the reason why it has already proven very popular and set itself apart from all other pageants is that there are no size, height or weight restrictions on the part of the contestants. In this day and age where pageants are glorified fashion shows, where it seems slimmer, ‘size zero’ models are the order of the day, the Miss African Spirit has challenged that perspective and has proven that indeed size does not matter.

What DOES matter is building a sense of community, being charitable and giving back to the communities - we live as well as those we come from. One of Miss African Spirit’s aims is to create and nurture the next generation of charitable leaders from its contestants and to inspire creativity, love, Ubuntu. Pageant Director Michelle Adams says “Our contestants will be required to choose three prevailing issues that affect Africa or the African Diaspora community, and the winner will have our full support in raising funds for a charity that is close to her heart, or creating her own brand new charity initiative. Charity does begin at home.”

It is impossible to ignore the plight of so many children in Africa. Several weeks ago, the BBC aired a documentary entitled “Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children”, which highlighted the plight of impoverished Zimbabwean children suffering under the harsh strains of the country’s economy. The film saw the start of massive grassroots efforts towards changing the fortunes of children, not only in Zimbabwe but everywhere, who may be suffering the same fate.

Long before the film was brought to the public’s attention, Miss African Spirit had researched and decided on where to focus its own charitable efforts. This year, after many consultations and with help from The Trail of Hope Foundation (see http://www.trailofhope.blogspot.com/), the pageant’s main charitable beneficiary will be the Upenyu Hutsva Orphanage in Harare, Zimbabwe. 

The orphanage houses just under a hundred orphaned children of all ages up to 18 years of age. Michelle says,” Miss African Spirit will give specifically to several sections of this community, with the aim of providing self-sustainable options for their future. We’re inviting individuals, families, community groups, schools, churches, businesses and everyone in between not only to support the pageant but to participate. The psychological benefits derived from giving to others who are less fortunate are priceless”. Full details of actual projects will be announced towards the date of the pageant.

Miss African Spirit 2010 Charity Launch Party takes place this weekend Sunday 2May 2010 at Blagclub 222 Kensal Road, London, W10 5BN from 10pm (see www.blagclub.com). To be added to the guest list and for more information, email info@missafricanspirit.co.uk

Charity Launch Party - THIS WEEKEND!

We're so excited to be having our charity launch party this coming Bank Holiday Sunday.  

The contestants are looking forward to a successful event at the Blagclub, (Ladbroke Grove) and both the Blagclub and the DJ's have been kind enough to lend their time and resources to us.  Some of London's best DJs - including Satisfaxion, Rudy Ranx, Jerry Bascombe & Gold Finger Freddy - will be playing a groovy mix of RnB, Classic Soul, Rare Groove and Revival .

We are SO looking forward to this event... its a good chance to wind down and have some fun while raising money to benefit our charity Upenyu Hutsva childrens home (near Harare, Zimbabwe) before the final countdown to the pageant when it's held in Milton Keynes on May 22nd.

I hope to see you at the launch event!  If you do stop by, please do make sure to say hello.

WIN TICKETS

Only until May 2nd, we're offering the chance to win 4 tickets for you and your friends/family to watch the Miss African Spirit pageant on 22nd May. 

Enter to win : http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/34368

Charity Launch Party - Bank Holiday Sunday 2nd May

We're pleased to announce our Charity Launch Party next week over the bank holiday weekend!

We've teamed up with the fantastic Blagclub (222 Kensal Road, London, W10 5BN) and equally fantastic DJ's - Satisfaxion, Rudy Ranx, Jerry Bascombe & Gold Finger Freddy will be rocking the crowd with the best in RnB, Classic Soul
Rare Groove and Revival.

The cover charge is £5 and proceeds will be given towards our charity Great Ormond Street hospital here in the UK, and Upenyu Hutsva Childrens home near Harare, Zimbabwe.

To guarantee that you pay £5 to come in please make sure you're on our guestlist - just email your full name to info@missafricanspirit.co.uk to get on the list.  You'll pay more on the door if you dont... :D

A special thanks to Per and Barry at Blagclub for helping us to arrange this with no hassle & lots of fantastic suggestions, and to the DJ's for giving up their time for our cause.

See you there?? Of course we will xx

Contesants on The Sporah Show

Yesterday some of our contestants were very pleased to join Michelle on a visit to The Sporah Show!  It went very well and all the contestants enjoyed themselves.

It was an absolute pleasure to speak to Sporah about prevailing issues within the African community.  Sporah is a fantastic, well-educated and conscientious woman - the kind that we need more of.  Her concern with the African community in the diaspora and within Africa itself is exemplary and we can all take a page out of her book.

Our contestants who could make it to film the show (at short notice) came from Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Uganda and are all fantastic examples of young ladies who are ready to make their impact in this world for the good of others.  During the show we talked at length - on and off air - about what each of us can do to make a difference and we concluded that it doesn't have to cost much to make a change.

As part of this contest - we aim to nurture the next generation of charitable leaders from the ladies that make up our contestants.  We told Sporah that we'll be offering support to any of our contestants - whether they win the title or not - for them to go and host their own events or initiatives to benefit charity at 'home' or abroad.

Attending The Sporah Show was a fantastic opportunity for Miss African Spirit and also for the contestants.  Thank you Sporah!

To find out more about Sporah visit - http://www.sporahshow.com/

Last call for contestants for Miss African Spirit 2010

Things are moving along quite fast to our final event on 22nd May 2010, and we still have some places available to contestants.  

There are no height, weight, colour or creed restrictions for contestants that want to enter the Miss African Spirit Beauty Pageant.  All that we ask is that contestants are ladies aged 18+ who have African heritage - that is - they are either born in Africa, or their parents / grandparents were born in Africa. Contestants also need to be legal residents of the UK/Ireland.

In the coming weeks we will be filming for media exposure as well as having our launch party on 1st May 2010 and we are hoping to get all our contestants registered by the 30th April, so we can get equal amounts of exposure for them all.

If you'd like to enter, please email info@missafricanspirit.co.uk for application instructions and a copy of our Terms & Conditions.

ALSO:

Exhibitor opportunities - exhibit at our pageant, on 22nd May 2010 (Jury's Inn Hotel, Milton Keynes) from as little as £80.  Please get in touch if you are a community group, business or individual who would like to promote your product or brand to our attendees.  You will get mentions on stage and an advert in our program as well as being able to reach our attendees directly.  Discounts are available. Email us at info@missafricanspirit.co.uk or call Michelle on 0845 269 5294.

Program advertising - this program features contestants and advertisers and is a keepsake for contestants and their friends/family.  In addition to be kept by them for years to come, it will be used by us as a reference for future years. Your advert in this program - from as little as £15 - will benefit from maximum exposure for many months.

Prizes & Sponsors - We've so far received prizes from Newstime Africa Magazine, Lindy's Escape, Success Strategies, Eazy Guide and are still looking for more!  If you have any that you'd like to donate in exchange for publicity, please send us an email.

We have confirmed Paul Lunga, band Jazz Impacto and Dru Dubb for our pageant on 22nd May 2010.  Paul Lunga is a legendary Jazz musician born in Bulawayo - the 'City of Kings' - in Zimbabwe.  We're truly excited that he's going to be entertaining us with his world-renowned Afro Jazz.

Performers wanted - we currently have several performers who have applied to take part during the show, if you'd like to be considered please send your myspace or Facebook link to us by email.

Volunteers - we're looking for volunteers for stage, decor, ushering etc.  Please check our website for more info if you'd like to take part.

www.missafricanspirit.co.uk

www.facebook.com/missafricanspirit

www.facebook.com/missafricanspiritpageant

Press Release: Miss African Spirit 2010: A Celebration of African Culture

Milton Keynes this year plays host to a brand new and exciting cultural event, the inaugural Miss African Spirit Beauty pageant. Taking place on the on May 22nd 2010 it is by no accident that the event coincides with Africa Day festivities taking place during that same week. Miss African Spirit will be an annual event celebrating Africa, its life and culture.

The goal of the pageant is to instil a sense of pride in women of African heritage by promoting their culture and identity within the wider worldwide community and providing a positive image with which to identify. This at a time when most news in circulation relating to Africa is usually of a negative nature.


Pageant Director Michelle Adams says, "The Miss African Spirit pageant is a program that is intended to give young ladies a sense of pride and identity with their African culture. We are looking for contestants aged 18 and above who are legal UK/Ireland residents and are interested in giving back to their African communities. As this is the main focus, there are no restrictions to height, weight, creed, or colour. Even contestants that don’t “look African” can compete provided they can prove their heritage. Hopefully this will reflect the rich diversity that defines Africa”

Miss African Spirit is an independent non-political platform for African women to attain personal growth and development and will contribute towards building a strong foundation of leaders of the future. Unlike other pageants, The Miss African Spirit pageant aims to inspire its participants to become involved in fundraising for their communities rather than it just being a platform for launching modelling careers. The pageant strives to become one of the largest and most influential platforms from which various charity initiatives that will benefit the African Diaspora community and initiatives within Africa are grown.


Twenty contestants will be competing in the pageant with the eventual winner chosen by a panel of judges who are themselves business and community leaders within the various African communities. The winning contestant will be required to select a bona fide charity or community initiate that they would like to work closely and support. The chosen initiative has to be of benefit to either the African community in the UK or to any African country of their choice. Part of the proceeds raised from the pageant will go directly to supporting the chosen initiative.

Michelle says,” We are really thrilled about this pageant and are looking to get as many African communities, businesses and societies as possible involved. It will truly be a celebration of Africa and who we are as Africans from the fashion, music, entertainment just a few days before Africa Day. It will be a memorable evening and we are encourage all guests attending to dress in their best African attire”

For more information please visit www.missafricanspirit.co.uk

Miss African Spirit 2010 information as follows:

Date: Saturday 22nd May 2010

Venue: Jury’s Inn Hotel Milton Keynes
Midsummer Boulevard
Milton Keynes
MK9 2HP

Time: 6pm till late

Tickets: VIP £30 (includes 2 course meal)
Standard £15
available at
www.missafricanspirit.co.uk

Media Contact: Sylvester Mutsigwa sylvester@pm-media.co.uk