I love to collaborate with new writers, directors and producers. I like to work on research and development projects, working with the text, exploring characters, developing stories. There is nothing finer than seeing the look on the face of a writer when they hear actors read their words out loud for the first time! I love physicality in acting; I believe that movement is the key to finding your character.

My work background is working in Social Services Children and Families and then specialising in the Education of Children in Care.

I gave up my muggle job 10 years ago and have never looked back. The industry is hard for women and especially for women over 40. I am passionate about seeing more roles for older women in the industry even if it means making them ourselves. Last year, myself and 10 other women aged 40-70 created our own work for the Manchester Fringe Festival, selling out our performances. From there, we were asked to go to two other festivals.

Earlier last year, I was cast in Cashy C's, a debut play written by Kirsty Taylor about the City of Bradford where she is from. An amazing play with a cast of five actors multi-rolling 13 roles between us. A story of a community on its knees in the current economic climate, it's set in an old shop and we created the set from scratch to be a Cash Convertors.

I played 60 year old Wendy, selling wax melts on the estate to earn a few extra pounds, helping the mums and kids and a surrogate nan to many; Tasha, 30 year old single mum who works and still struggles to make ends meet, always on the edge of poverty; and teenage Sammy, streetwise and old beyond her years.

With a live DJ on set and a rapper narrating this immersive, site-specific play, it was so real and empowering. Kirsty worked with local schools, getting them to write stories for items in the shop, providing free tickets for them to see the play. This was a play for people who don't get to see traditional theatre: it was set in their City, speaking their language and telling their stories in a regional accent they could relate to.

The feedback we had after the shows was humbling, so many people saying they they felt heard and seen — they knew someone like Wendy or Tasha or had been them. The picture below is from the set of Cashy C's as Wendy makes her escape on a stolen mobility scooter!

I have been a performer in the World Monologue Games from the beginning. I found it during lockdown and it was the outlet I needed for a very personal monologue I had written. Little did I know I would win the Silver Medal! Since then, it has been an ideal way to perform more new writing, this time by other writers, and share this on a worldwide platform.

Gosh, it's been a tough year.  The SAG-AFTRA strikes have had a big impact on work in the UK so there have been fewer dramas being made. I will continue to slog away at promoting myself, networking and creating with others wherever possible. I continue to train at local acting classes, honing my craft and learning all the time.