Miss England donates her pageant dress to charity

THE first South Asian woman to be crowned Miss England has donated her Miss World pageant dress to the British Red Cross.

Dr Bhasha Mukherjee, 23, has donated the dress, as well as a number of other items, in support of women living in Bangladesh

All funds raised from the items will go towards the It starts with her campaign, a UK-government backed drive to help women in slum communities in Barishal, Bangladesh.

Mukherjee, 23, who is also a junior doctor, said donating the dress was a “special”            experience.

“The dress is from Ellie Wilde and it was one of the dresses that I wore on the cover of India’s Health Magazine, and that was a very empowering moment for me,” Mukherjee, from Derby, said. “I am donating this dress to help empower other strong women living in disaster-prone communities in Bangladesh.”

She added: “I’m not just supporting this because I speak Bengali or because I’m the first South Asian woman to be crowned as Miss England, I’m supporting this as a fellow woman. I think it’s really important for other women in the UK to be supporting strong women on the other side of the world.”

As the winner of Miss England, Mukherjee automatically entered into the Miss World contest which took place last year.