Dame Julie Walters - Ambassador

Her support there has been very hands on locally - she has been interviewed about her life and career at branch meetings, attended the AGM and presented prizes on several occasions to local students of Collyer's College who won an art competition. Julie also visits the Branch to meet volunteers and is always interested to hear about our latest work within the local community.

In supporting Samaritans more broadly, Julie has attended the ICAP Trading Day on our behalf where each year they give away one day's revenue and commissions to a number of chosen charities. Here Julie met and thanked numerous staff for their support and generous donations, helping to spread awareness of our work and how the money raised helps. In January 2020, Julie supported our national Brew Monday campaign, taking part in a photo shoot and an interview for press and social media. Julie’s involvement hugely helped raise awareness of this campaign to help reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness, encouraging people to talk more and check in on their family and friends at what can be a difficult time of year for so many.

Julie’s incredible film, TV and theatre career has spanned 4 decades and has seen her win 2 BAFTA Film Awards, a Golden Globe, 4 BAFTA TV Awards and was the recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship in 2014. She has starred in iconic films such as EDUCATING RITA, BUSTER, BILLY ELLIOT and the HARRY POTTER series and in a whole host of TV programmes, including a clutch of highly acclaimed shows with Victoria Wood. The Secret Garden is Julie’s latest film project, released late 2020.