Cork’s Sandra top of the world and raising money for good causes in the process

A Midleton woman has been crowned the winner of the international Miss Elegance of the World competition.

Sandra McKenzie-Vass Keogh has been named the winner of this year’s Miss Elegance of the World competition, which took place virtually on Sunday night.

The international competition crowns two winners, one international and one UK. The final of the competition was due to take place in the UK but due to Covid-19, the final took place through an online ceremony.

Sandra McKenzie-Vass Keogh, who represented Ireland for the competition, was selected as the international winner of the 2021 competition, while Grace Smithen was named as the UK winner.

The winners were selected out of over 40 finalists which were announced in February of this year.

Members of the public could vote for each contestant online in the run-up to the crowning ceremony.

As part of the competition, Ms McKenzie-Vass Keogh took part in a number of different categories virtually, before being crowned the winner.

She has extensive experiencing in modelling and taking part in competitions, having modelled for fashion shows and photoshoots both at home and abroad.

In 2018, the Midleton beauty queen took part in the international finals of the Miss Progress competition, representing Ireland in Italy. 

The year prior, she won the title of Miss Power Woman Ireland and went on to join international contestants in the grand finals in the Dominican Republic.

The Miss Elegance of the World competition aims to promote the value of self-confidence and good self-esteem, encouraging contestants to raise money for charity as part of the process.

Through the virtual ceremony and crowning, over £7,690 was raised for Cancer Research UK.

Ms McKenzie-Vass Keogh’s chosen charities as part of the international competition were the Temple Street Foundation and Homeless Animal Rescue Team in Cork.