Sarah Parish, who is currently appearing in ITV Bancroft has said that acting is her part-time job. The talented 51-year-old actress who is one of the best UK talents with the likes of Judi Dench, Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson spends most of her time raising money for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton Hospital.
The Bancroft star who is married to actor James Murray set up The Murray Parish Trust with her husband after her one-year-old daughter Ella-Jayne died in 2009 of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome. The trust aims to bring awareness and raise much-needed funds for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Sarah Parish First Acting Job Was In A Boddingtons Commercial
When asked about The Murray Parish Trust Sarah Parish said her harrowing experience has made her a better person.
She explained: “It really helps to know that we’re helping sick children and it’s a great legacy for Ella-Jayne. We’re giving people hope in the worst time of their lives, which is great. It’s also making something good out of something awful.”
Sarah Parish who has appeared in some of the biggest UK dramas including Cutting It, said she didn’t expect The Murray Parish Trust to become so big.
“The foundation has become so big it has become a full-time job.”
The fundraising has become so successful that last year £5.2million was raised with another charity. It was used to open a beautiful, big emergency department for children.
Sarah, who said she was not a confident person when growing up got her first break in a TV add for a Boddingtons. At 26 her agent told her the part was a young lady sunbathing on a beach in Blackpool who likes to be massaged with chip fat. She was then told she needed to go to the audition wearing a bikini.
Following on from that advert Sarah Parish career took off. She went on to appear in Peak Practice, the musical drama series Blackpool and of course Cutting It.
Bancroft hit the screens in 2017 and quickly got viewers gripped. The drama became a big hit even though it received little press coverage.
At the end of the first series, viewers could not believe the twist. Detective Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Bancroft was revealed as the lover and killer of Lily Sacofsky’s Laura.
The ITV drama could be heading back to our screens for a third installment.