Stacy Kerr’s achievement earned her a place as one of just 10 women from across the UK and Ireland who made the final of Slimming World’s Woman of the Year 2014 competition – the only woman from Scotland in the last stage of the contest. She was congratulated on her weight loss of 9st 3lbs by singer Peter Andre.

Stacy joined the Dumbarton Slimming World group, which meets every Monday at 5.30pm and 7.30pm in the Brock Bowling Club, in November 2012. She has since gone from 19st 1lb to 9st 12lbs, and earlier this year the group voted her as their representative in the annual Woman of the Year competition.

Stacy, who also featured in the December 2014 issue of Slimming World magazine, said: “Meeting Peter Andre was the perfect end to what’s been an incredible year for me.” “I’ve done pretty much every diet under the sun – but I always found them too hard to stick to because they left me feeling hungry. Slimming World was completely different, I don’t have to go hungry. The changes I’ve made to the way I cook and eat have been small ones, but they’ve made a big difference to my weight.

Stacy says even with Slimming World’s eating plan she couldn’t have achieved all she has without the support of her Slimming World group: “I felt so self-conscious and was extremely nervous, everyone was really welcoming though and I soon made friends. Now I look forward to seeing everyone and how they’ve got on. We swap recipes and advice, and it’s a lot of fun. There’s a serious side too though and we really are there for one another which is really important. If I’ve ever been struggling the group have been there to remind me how far I’ve come and not to give up as well as giving me great ideas for getting back on track.” Peter Andre said he was delighted to meet Stacy: “Being in the public eye there’s a lot of scrutiny and if you put on even a pound or two the newspapers are extremely quick to point it out, so I’ve always tried to take care of myself. However since becoming a dad I’ve realised it’s about more than just looking good, it’s much more important to me that I’m healthy and setting a good example to my children. At the Awards I met lots of people, like Stacy, who’ve lost incredible amounts of weight and it has completely transformed their lives – it blew me away.” Bernadette McParland, who runs the Dumbarton group which Stacy attends, is very proud of her: “Stacy hasn’t only changed how she looks, she’s a different woman on the inside too. She’s a very happy, confident woman now. She might not have won the overall competition but I know she’ll always be a winner to the Dumbarton group and to Scotland. She’s already such an inspiration to so many of us and I hope she’ll inspire even more people in Dumbarton to make a change this New Year.” Anyone interested can call Bernadette on 07840 016941 for more information.