Kristen in Miss Teen Great Britain bid

Kristen Kavanagh will be representing her home town during this year’s Miss Teen Great Britain contest, to take place in Blackpool on October 25.

She was one of the lucky 50 finalists picked from an original pool of 1000.

A former pupil of Downshire School, the 16-year-old recently started a one-year course in Beauty Therapy at Northern Regional College in Newtownabbey.

And the local teen is keeping her career options open, according to mum Pauline.

“She hopes to either continue on with beauty therapy, become an air hostess, or go into modelling,” Pauline added.

“The pageant will be good experience for her.”

Last year, Kristen picked up the top prize in the Miss Teen International contest, run by the Ann and Caroline Connor NI School of Modelling.

As part of her win, Kristen has been supporting Tiny Life, a charity dedicated to reducing premature birth, illness, disability and death in babies born in Northern Ireland.

And in advance of her trip to Blackpool, she is continuing to raise funds for the organisation, with a number of collection points located around Carrickfergus.

These include the Royal Oak bar, Ownie’s, Dobbin’s Inn, Papa Brown’s, Victoria Drycleaners, Carrickfergus Golf Club, Carrick Bowling Club, and the Belfast Loughshore Hotel.

The family also hosted a tombola stand at the recent Broadisland Gathering, generating a further £315 for TinyLife.