CARING TOGETHER: NATALIE CASSIDY TO FRONT NEW BBC SERIES AS PART OF A WEEK OF SPECIAL PROGRAMMING

Best known for playing Sonia Fowler on EastEnders, Natalie Cassidy will be taking on a new role, fulfilling her long standing ambition to train as a carer.

Natalie will be enrolling at one of the UK’s top Health & Social Care colleges where, across eight episodes, she’ll study, train, and work alongside health and social care students, care professionals, volunteers and home carers - facing the realities, the heartbreak, and the joy of caring.

Together they’ll be putting the spotlight on a dilemma we’ll all face at some point in our lives - who will care for our parents, our partners, our children... and who will care for us?

Caring Together is part of BBC's Caring Matters week, a week long spotlight on caring across the BBC, bringing together programming to reflect the realities of caring in the UK today. From Saturday 23 May until Saturday 30 May, the BBC will shine a light on the experiences of unpaid carers and the role they play in families and communities across the country.

Throughout the week, the BBC aims to help audiences navigate the often complex system of support around care, sharing essential advice from experts alongside lived experience from those with caring responsibilities.

Through powerful stories, trusted information and practical guidance, Caring Matters will not only highlight the challenges that come with providing care, but also what we can all do to better recognise, understand and support the unpaid carers around us.

Natalie Cassidy: Caring Together is a groundbreaking new series commissioned for BBC One and the iPlayer.