IT was a magical day for a young woman who deserved a special treat after a difficult year.

Claire Symonds, 21, of Southampton was treated to a Cinderella-style makeover after being nominated by her grandmother, Kath Hooper.

The Echo competition invited people to put forward someone they thought deserved some special treatment.

Mrs Hooper described what a huge support Miss Symonds had been to her family following the sudden death of her 21-month-old sister, Katie, in June.

As well as registering her sister’s death and taking care of all the funeral arrangements, Miss Symonds has given up her own home to move in with her mum.

Miss Symonds said that winning the competition, which included a makeover with hair, dress and make-up at Debenhams, and tickets to see Cinderella at The Mayflower, had meant a great deal to her.

“I cried when nan told me she’d entered me and I was overwhelmed at winning. Obviously I wasn’t the only person nominated so I thought ‘wow, there are other people who looked at what my nan wrote and thought I was worthy as well’. To me that was amazing and it’s given me some good memories.”

Mrs Hooper added: “Claire deserved some time for herself. She’s been through a real tragedy this year. Her and her mum were mesmerised during the show and they deserved to have something good happen to them.”

As well as being given a new look Claire was allowed to keep the dress and jewellery.

“I love the dress, I’m going to wear it over Christmas,” she said.

She and her family also met Cinderella stars Matthew Kelly and Craig McLachlan.

She said: “The day was brilliant. The cast were fantastic – really friendly and welcoming and the show was brilliant.”