Ashley Slanina-Davies is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 actress born in Standish

Standish, Greater Manchester

Standish is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the A49 road between the towns of Chorley and Wigan, a short distance from Junction 27 of the M6 motorway....

, near Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

, who is notable for playing the role of Amy Barnes

Amy Barnes

Amy Barnes is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ashley Slanina-Davies. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 14 November 2005. Amy was created by executive producer David Hanson and Slanina-Davies was offered the role whilst looking for...

 on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

's teen soap

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

, Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...

. The role of Amy is Slanina-Davies' first major television role.

The character of Amy Barnes developed in a number of storylines in Autumn 2006, which saw the character discover she had become pregnant and her family break up. Dealing with these issues saw the character act erratically, becoming involved in a car crash.

Personal life

Slanina-Davies is interested in charity work, and has contributed to fundraising activities for the Action for Blind People

Action for Blind People

Action for Blind People is a national sight loss charity in the United Kingdom that provides help and support to blind and partially sighted people of all ages.-History:...

 charity as well as abseiling

Abseiling

Abseiling , rappelling in American English, is the controlled descent down a rock face using a rope; climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection.- Slang terms :...

 down the Printworks

The Printworks

The Printworks is an entertainment venue, located on Withy Grove in Manchester city centre, England. It opened in 2000 and was launched with fireworks and a radio roadshow featuring many local and international acts, headlined by Lionel Richie....

 building in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 in June 2006. Slanina-Davies stated that she was motivated by the fact that her "mum's partially sighted". She also spoke out on the issue of teenage sex for the NSPCC

NSPCC

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is a United Kingdom charity campaigning and working in child protection.-History:...

. The character of Amy had slept with her then boyfriend due to peer pressure, and Slanina-Davies is quoted by the NSPCC in its campaigns on the issue as stating "don't do it to impress your mates."

In May 2008, Slanina-Davies had her hair cut short for a storyline in Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...

, while also raising money for cancer charity CLIC Sargent

CLIC Sargent

CLIC Sargent is charity in the United Kingdom that was formed by the merger of Sargent Cancer Care for Children and Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood in 2005. The charity specializes in providing support for children with cancer....

. The haircut was part of a domestic violence storyline involving Ashley's character, Amy

Amy Barnes

Amy Barnes is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ashley Slanina-Davies. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 14 November 2005. Amy was created by executive producer David Hanson and Slanina-Davies was offered the role whilst looking for...

, and her abusive boyfriend Ste Hay

Ste Hay

Stephen "Ste" Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes...

.