We are delighted to welcome Charlene Ford as our newest PiPA Ambassador. Charlene made headline news last year as she successfully negotiated an on-stage West-End job share with fellow actor Jenny Legg, who had covered for her while she was on maternity leave:
"Being a performer in musical theatre with a career that has been mainly made up of ensemble roles is tough. The nature of the work means going from audition to audition and job to job. Then all of a sudden you find yourself in your early 30s, married and wanting to start a family. Its daunting. What's surprising is that there are still so few female working mums in the industry, especially in Musical Theatre. The simple reason is that as parents we struggle to get the options other industries commonly provide. When falling pregnant on my current contract, I was initially worried this would be the end of my career. Thankfully though determination , support from the company and my maternity cover I was able to return to work after 6 months on a job share basis. I feel so honoured to be an ambassador for PIPA, who are working to promote change within the arts. Change is happening."