Miss Durham 2026, Nicole Hanson, has completed one of her biggest challenges yet, abseiling 115ft down the side of the Francis Crick Institute in London to raise money for charity.
The 22-year-old from Darlington travelled from the North East to the capital to take part in the challenge as part of her Miss GB journey, stepping well outside her comfort zone to try something she had never done before.
The Francis Crick Institute is one of the UK’s leading biomedical research centres, bringing together scientists from across the world to better understand disease and find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat it.
And while scientists were working inside the building on discoveries that could change lives, Nicole was taking on a very different kind of challenge on the outside.
Standing 115ft above London, the reality of what she was about to do certainly brought some nerves. But once Nicole took that first step, those nerves quickly turned into excitement.
What started as a daunting challenge became an experience she genuinely loved.
Nicole completed the descent, enjoying the adrenaline and the unique experience of seeing London from a completely different perspective. By the time she reached the ground, she was already looking back on the experience with a smile.
The challenge also helped take her overall fundraising total to an incredible £1,600.
For Nicole, her first year in pageantry has been about much more than wearing a sash and representing her title. It has been about saying yes to opportunities, challenging herself and using her platform to make a difference.
It has also given her the opportunity to bring together two worlds that might not immediately seem connected: pageantry and car culture.
Outside of her Miss Durham title, Nicole is deeply involved in the automotive community and is the founder of Abarth Track Sisterhood, a community created to support and connect women within cars, motorsport and track culture.
Blending those two worlds has become an important part of Nicole’s journey.
Rather than keeping her interests separate, she has embraced the opportunity to bring pageantry into a world where it might not traditionally be expected, while also showing the automotive community a different side of what pageantry can be.
For Nicole, it is about showing that women don’t have to fit into one box.
She can be passionate about cars, attend track days, build a community for women in the automotive world, raise money for charity and proudly represent her region as Miss Durham.
The abseil was another example of exactly that.
It was an opportunity to challenge herself, raise money and create an experience she will remember long after her Miss Durham year comes to an end.
From standing at the top of a building filled with scientists working on discoveries that could change people’s lives, to stepping over the edge and enjoying every second of the descent, Nicole proved that sometimes the things that initially seem the most daunting can become the experiences you end up enjoying the most.
And her journey is far from over.
On 16 October, Nicole will take to the stage to compete for the title of Miss Great Britain, proudly representing Durham and the North East.
After a year of fundraising, community work, pageantry and bringing her passion for the automotive world into a completely different arena, she is now preparing to bring everything she has learnt to the Miss Great Britain stage.
Show Nicole your support as she brings Durham to the stage on 16 October!
