West Midlands paramedic and charity campaigner crowned Miss Black Country 2022

An NHS paramedic has been crowned Miss Black Country 2022 at a special crowning ceremony at Walsall Manor Hospital where the contestant works.

Alice Jones, aged 26, was handed the crown this week by previous holder of the crown Isobel Lines.

NHS paramedic Alice Jones from Walsall, who recently travelled to Ghana on a medical aid trip, is looking forward to using her crowning to highlight causes close to her heart.

Her current work with the NHS involves attending to emergencies and transporting sick and injured people to hospitals around the West Midlands region.

Speaking about her NHS work, Jones said: “When I was 18 I worked on the patient transport units, that really sparked my interest into being a paramedic.

“I qualified to be a paramedic when I was 22, I always want to give back.”

Irfan Tahir

In her spare time Jones has been an active fundraiser for various charities and she has also visited Ghana where she administered medical care and offered health care advice and training.

Jones was humbled by her trip to Ghana: “It was really humbling, we don’t really realise how good the NHS is until we see this stuff. The nearest hospital was 42 miles away.”

Jones also wants to highlight medical issues such as cardiac arrests and using CPR in the UK: “Being a paramedic is quite close to my heart, I’ve been to a few cardiac arrests and there just hasn’t been the public help that there should have been.

“I want to raise awareness for women too, people are 23% less likely to give CPR to a female due to the fear of being accused of sexual assault, but that’s not right.”

The official handing over ceremony of the Miss Black Country crown took place at Walsall Manor Hospital. Previous holder of the crown Isobel Lines, who raised money for the NHS during the COVID-19 lockdown and raised awareness about mental health issues and teenage suicide, attended the event to pass over the crown to Jones.

Irfan Tahir

Jones has also been volunteering with World Against Single Use Plastic (WASUP). The founder of WASUP, Professor Abdul Rashid Gatrad OBE, is also based in Walsall.

Professor Gatrad is a Member of the Climate Change Committee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He will be selecting the WASUP 2022 Queen at the Miss England 2022 final after watching the Ethical Fashion Show and all the recycling efforts made by the contestants.

All finalists attending the Miss England 2022 contest are invited to create an outfit made from recycled materials.

Jones, as Miss Black Country 2022, will take her place later this week on stage at the Miss England 2022 Finals in Birmingham.