Kacey Ainsworth with her family
You have been involved with the Future Friendly Family Award. Can you tell more about it?
Kacey Ainsworth: This award is basically going to be given to family who have made decisions to live more sustainably.
What made you become involved with it?
Kacey Ainsworth: Well, I think the company approached me because they have heard I’ve built my own eco-house and it was part of my lifestyle I’ve been changing by building this property, so they thought I would be a good person to take part as I am going down that road myself and trying to live sustainably and teach my children.
When you started to build your eco-house several years ago, it made news. Can you tell more about the house? Is it fulfilling your expectations?
Kacey Ainsworth: It is not been that long since it was completed, so it’s quite difficult to count financially and estimate how viable it is – you need several years to tell, but so far we’ve been really pleased with the whole heating system, and we’ve had quite a lot of financial savings from that. Also the ventilation is much better. We’ve benefited, I think, quite a lot from having built this house.
Can you explain more how your eco-house is different from an ordinary one?
Kacey Ainsworth: Well it’s a timber framed house so it’s built from a sustainable source. And then the way it is insulated – it is highly insulated so no heat is lost from the house. So when the heat is in here, it stays in here. And windows are specially made so that they don’t let out much heat. And also the way the house is heated – we use zero carbon. Therefore our heating bills are lower which means we don’t use as much energy to heat the house.
In financial terms, is cheaper to build similar house or an ordinary one?
Kacey Ainsworth: I think it is always a difficult question to answer. But if are you researching what you spent you will save. But having said that, you know our heating system is a great system but it’s not a cheap system. So I think it’s been an investment for our future which I think is why they wanted me to participate in the campaign. What I’m trying to do is to live my life in a more eco-friendly way which does not always having special products. You are basically looking everyday things and working out how you can more sustainably in your everyday environment.
Are there any particular examples?
Kacey Ainsworth: In terms of your own house you have to look at areas where you can save money. There are lots of different areas, you don’t have to build your own house, you can insulate your house, you can look at how you’re heating your house, what your boiler can be, upgrade it, all of these money you will get back. You can also look at your water use, by using products that are concentrated so that you don’t use so much water for the same job – and again you’re saving money here. So there are a lot of things you can do within an ordinary house set up. You don’t have to knock your house down and build another one. The reason why we did it on ours is because it was derelict.
Can we also ask about your career. What made you become an actress?
Kacey Ainsworth: It’s been a way of life for me really.
Would you say it is essential for an actor or actress to have relevant education?
Kacey Ainsworth: It’s very, very different for every type of person. I did in my own route – it is completely about what you want to do. There is no set route to enter this industry.
Apart from work on TV, you participated in many plays on stage. Would you say that your approach to stage is different?
Kacey Ainsworth: Oh yes. My approach to every role is different – some of them require a lot more work, research. It always depends on what character it is. Certainly television-wise you don’t need to particularly warm up your voice because you don’t need to project. I think you pretty much tailor it to a particular role.
Throughout the career you’ve played many characters. Do you have a favourite one?
Kacey Ainsworth: Well, I’ve enjoyed the stagework I’ve done – I’ve had great times on the stage and I’ve enjoyed playing these characters. And I’ve also played characters in children’s TV series and loved it.
With all these roles is it difficult to find balance between work and family life?
Kacey Ainsworth: Well, it is difficult, of course, every person who has work and children will know that. It is very hard, you need to make decisions because you might tear yourself to pieces trying to be all for all people
And the final question: what are your future plans?
Kacey Ainsworth: Well at the moment there is some TV for next year and I’m doing some writing with Tracy-Ann Oberman who was on EastEnders as well, so we got something interesting going on there. Well basically, I think, it is more television next year. And obviously I’m involved with this campaign and I’ll be doing this until April so it’s taking up nice amount of time and I will be at the awards ceremony that happens next year, you know, just supporting the Future Friendly campaign. So it is basically sharing how I live my life
Kacey Ainsworth is fronting the Future Friendly Awards, designed to recognise local community heroes and families who are helping to inspire their communities to be more sustainable. To enter the Awards or to nominate someone you think is making a difference, visit futurefriendly.co.uk. Entries close on 31st Dec
by Zair Kashek
Tagged in Kacey Ainsworth