She plays a mum who's had to give up her children, and now Coronation Street 's Sally Carman is helping others who have been through the same anguish.
As recovering addict Abi Franklin in the soap, Sally's storyline struck a chord with families in difficulty.
She has been working with charity Motherwell Cheshire for more than a year and has been touched by the stories of women helped by the organisation.
Sally, 38, said: "The storyline resonated with the women they worked with and they asked me if I'd like to get involved.
"I volunteered and a lot of women came up to me and said, 'You've kept me going, I've been through that situation'.
"It knocked me off my feet a little, I wasn't expecting that. As much as you think, 'This is a brilliant storyline', these things do resonate with people's lives.
"It made me realise even more how much people get something from it."
In the show, recovering crack addict Abi gave up her young twins to let them have a better life with their foster parents, who wanted to adopt them.
Sally says playing Abi made her feel lucky about her own life.
She explains: "I've had a lovely life with all the support I could possibly want, yet I've still gone off the rails at times, made bad decisions and messed up.
"It did make me think, 'If I hadn't had that support, where would I be now? What state would I be in?'
"It does give you food for thought and it's good to remember that."
Sally recently moved in with boyfriend and co-star Joe Duttine, 49, who plays Tim Metcalfe on the ITV soap.
She revealed: "It's going brilliantly."
The actress joined Corrie in 2017, after starring as Kelly Maguire in Channel 4's Shameless.
She says of life on the cobbles: "It's calmer – and warmer too… because I get to wear clothes, which is lovely!"
*Check out motherwellcheshirecio.com to learn more about the charity.
