FOEW International Pageant
FOEW International Pageant
Discover an International Pageant for Empowering Women
We’re Focused on the Future of Empowering Women
More Than Just a Pageant
Our pageant has a genuine family feeling and that is something we are all very passionate about achieving. We believe what we have cannot be replicated if you do not have the passion and that is something we have oodles of!
True Beauty Comes From Within
The charity-based pageant was founded by Gisele Buckingham from Folkestone in 2009, the home of the world’s first ever international beauty contest, which was later to become known as Miss World. Inspired by the Miss World competition’s values and ethos of “Beauty with Purpose”, Gisele wanted to create a pageant with a difference. So, taking the concept of “True beauty comes from within”, she started off by creating the Face of Europe.
It has since become much more than she ever dreamed, even becoming the 1st Pageant ever to be hosted in Disneyland Paris. With the increasing popularity of this pageant and the voluntary support of her team, Face of Europe quickly grew into FOEW International (Future of Empowering Women). This, we believe, matches our ethos much more. Our competition has never wholly been about what you look like, but about who you are and the potential you have to enrich your life and people around you.
Creating Memories to Last A Lifetime!
Our pageant allows talented and confident girls to meet and share their experiences with other likeminded girls from all over the world. Focused on fun, friendly competition, our contestants forge friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. We’re proud to say they stand out as excellent role models for the younger generation and serve as amazing ambassadors for their countries. Thanking them for all their hard work with a trip to Disneyland Paris is a highlight of our year!
What Makes FOEW INTERNATIONAL Different
Unfortunately, pageantry has had, and deservedly so in some cases, some very bad press. This is something we have worked hard to overcome as a charitable, family-friendly pageant. Some people, press, and organisations cannot see beyond the old styled ‘beauty pageant’ or just don’t want to look and see the difference these young women can make to other people lives. It has taken a while to prove ourselves and for our contestants’ fundraising to be taken seriously, but we now have a proven record and testimonials from beneficiaries and past contestants to support our aim.
Several of our winners being inspired by the people they have met and knowing the difficulties they faced, wanted to continue helping others and have gone on to become doctors, therapists and brain surgeons! We are incredibly proud to have lit that spark, and these inspiring young ladies will dispel the myths about pageant contestants.
We’re focused on empowering the young ladies that take part in our contests, not forcing them into a stereotype. At FOEW, we do not hold swimwear rounds, all girls are asked to wear age-appropriate outfits and make up, and each girl is interviewed and their charitable activities taken into account. We have had several of our winners become inspired by what we do and who we have helped, going on to become doctors, therapists, and even brain surgeons. We’re incredibly proud to have lit that spark, and hopefully help these inspiring young ladies dispel the myths about pageant contestants.
The girls themselves are hoping to spread the 'FOEW' idea of charity pageantry around the world and prove that there is a lot more to girls doing pageants. Our contestants are doing more than just strutting on a stage or wanting to wear pretty dresses and tiaras. They are far more than just a pretty face. They understand the difficulties some people must overcome and want to help.
Discover Pageantry That Makes A Difference
At FOEW, we are very proactive and try to work hand in hand with the charities we help, especially in the UK. We have even been publicly acknowledged and received an invite alongside Ellie Delaney (Face of Europe 2012) to the Irish Parliament at Stormont. There, we were formally congratulated for our charity work and, equally importantly, for the help and support we give to both our finalists and their families.
Ever since we started in 2010, our finalists together have raised an international total of over £359,600! This is an amazing achievement and something we are very proud to say. Our contestants have really taken this idea of helping others less fortunate than themselves to heart, especially with our founding charity Headway East Kent who personally received over £110,000.00 towards their new day centre which FOEW opened in 2018.
It is important to us that all our guests recognise the importance of our charity element. The whole concept of FOEW was formed around our focus on helping other less fortunate than ourselves.
From 2023 we have nominated a new Charity and our girls are focusing on supporting and raising assistance & donations for
Children with Cancer UK, in 204 we started our journey with them by donating £5,500.00 we hope to give more by the end of the year, We feel this is a charity than can benefit everyone .
Why did we choose Headway Kent as our 1st benefactor?
Knowing how important finances are and how difficult it is to get funding, we knew that we had to find a way to support these worthwhile causes.
Headway Kent are not fully funded by the government or the local Authority. A large part of their income has to be raised and they are reliant on fundraising. This is how they have managed to keep their 5 day centres running.
Locally, Headway Kent’s Folkestone branch had very inferior facilities. Nothing really more than a small hall with the tiniest of kitchens, a small office, and two tiny toilets - only one of which had disabled facilities. They did not have any specialist, therapy, or sensory rooms. They didn’t even have a quiet space where advice and counselling could take place. They did however have a continually growing waiting list of people needing to use the facility. Therefore, the need to acquire a larger and more modern premises was very urgent. Headway is a needs’ led organisation and helping people is what they are about and that is why we want to help!
In October 2018, FOEW opened the new day centre for Folkestone, one which our girls raised most of the funding for. Together, they achieved a fantastic £110K and it is wonderful to see what they have achieved and how it has changed the lives of so many. As part of our charitable efforts, we have been continued to support the new day centre, adapting to modern difficulties including a move to a new location in Hythe due to Covid.
Choosing Headway East Kent as our founding charity was both personal for our founding directors and volunteers and born out of a desire to help. Many of our team have either known people who needed to use their facilities or have been actively involved with the day-to-day care and mentoring of clients. One of our founding directors and pageant coaches, Gisele, has shared her thoughts on why Headway East Kent became a focal point for our charity efforts:
“I, myself, suffer from a minor head injury that I sustained through a car accident several years ago. I know from personal experience how quickly these things can happen and how your life can change overnight. However, I was the lucky one, I recovered. It has made me very aware it is not just you but your whole family and your friends that are all affected, everyone’s life is turned upside down in a matter of minutes.
After the initial 6 weeks, NHS support stops, clients are left to fend for themselves and places like Headway are their lifeline, where they find support, rehabilitation, friends, and hope. Headway is not fully funded by the government or the local Authority, most of their income has to be raised from fundraising and this is how they try to keep the 5 days centre working.”
Our contest was founded in Folkestone and Folkestone is where part of our final is held. As such, we feel that the people of the town should benefit as much from our pageant as our contestants. Not only do we heavily support Headway East Kent, our founding charity, but we also intend to help other less fortunate organisations in Folkestone and Kent.
After Covid & helping Headway East reach their goal of the new day centre , FOEW have made a decision to support other deserving associations and from 2024 we are supporting Children with Cancer UK. We feel that this a national Charity and as our pageant increases we should extend our support nation-wide.
Committed to Charity in Our Communities
As of 2019, we decided to build on our progress with Headway and support other organisations with their outstanding contributions to the society. Thoughts of this change was before anyone had even heard of the dreaded word ‘Covid’. We have chosen to initially support the following:
- Children with Cancer UK
- Air Ambulance KSS
- The Alzheimer’s Society
Several years down the line, we have since expanded our charity efforts. While we are continuing to support Headway, but it is not going be on the same scale as we have done previously. This means we can look to support others in achieving their goals too, nominating a new cause every year or so! Our team and contestants feel this is a way forward and a way to thank more people whose tireless work is sometimes going unrecognised.
Any questions do not hesitate to ask. No question is too small.
Regards,
Gisèle
Pageant Director
FOEW International Pageants