Working all hours to make

For most of us, the daily drudgery of our working lives is all about keeping a roof over our heads and putting food on the table. For some people, however, this is not where it ends: their nine-to-five jobs are simply a means of paying the bills while they fill every second of their spare time studying, volunteering, applying or auditioning for their dream jobs. Whether they are pursuing careers in acting, politics, law or fashion, these are people who make unbelievable sacrifices every day in terms of time, money and even friendships, to fulfil their ultimate working ambitions.

George Stothard
PR recruitment to politician

Thanks to his socialist mother, 25-year-old George Stothard's interest in politics started when he was very young. "I come from a working-class background and have always been instilled with a keen sense of social injustice," he explains. "Mum used to talk about Thatcher the Snatcher (the milk, the free school meals) and I remember the miners' strike and being fascinated by what was going on."

He joined the Labour Party as soon as he was old enough and got involved with various political committees at university. But politics remained a hobby while he pursued a career as an actor. Like most thespians, he was unemployed for long periods of time and ended up doing a part-time job in a financial public relations firm, starting on reception and eventually doing research. Two years ago, he decided to give up acting and went to recruitment specialist Major Players to find a fulltime role in financial PR. The firm liked him so much he was given a job there.

Meanwhile, since moving to Earl's Court last January, his political hobby has become a very serious pursuit. He is secretary of his local Labour Party branch and is standing as a Labour candidate in the forthcoming council elections.

"I am," he sighs, "very, very busy. At the moment, not only am I trying to get my election campaign running but I am also responsible for all the admin and running meetings at my Labour Party branch. I give up at least three evenings a week and a day at the weekend, and if I get voted onto the council it is only going to get worse."

But Stothard's passion for politics remains undented. "I went into local politics asking whether I could make a difference. The answer is, I can. This is what makes it all worthwhile."

He foresees a future in which he will give up his recruitment career when it is "economically viable". He says that is "... when I become an MP which, realistically, I would love to do in eight to 10 years' time".

As for his ultimate political ambition, it is very simple: "I want to be Prime Minister. No, I will be Prime Minister." volunteering, applying or auditioning for their dream jobs.

Whether they are pursuing careers in acting, politics, law or fashion, these are people who make unbelievable sacrifices every day in terms of time, money and even friendships, to fulfil their ultimate working ambitions.

Peter White
Mayfair art dealer to actor

Peter White had always fancied himself as an actor, but it was only when the 41-year-old went to LA in 1989 that he actually decided to give it a whirl.

"I thought it was too late for me," he explains, "but my girlfriend at the time, who was an actress, told me to go for it. So I enrolled on some acting courses at UCLA."

For the next few years he worked in LA as a classic-car salesman to support himself while pursuing his acting career. "The great thing is that I can act like anyone," he laughs, "so I just acted like a classic-car salesman."

A couple of small film roles followed, including a part in Titanic, which sadly ended up on the cutting room floor. When he met his British wife three years ago, he left LA to move back to London with her. "It is much harder to get work over here," says White. "It is a much smaller industry and very incestuous."

He now has a commercial agent and goes to four or five castings a week for work in advertisements. Meanwhile, he works for a Mayfair art gallery, where his employers are willing to give him as much time off as he needs to go to auditions. "I just make up the time," he explains.

When it comes to keeping motivated, White has no trouble. He simply recalls the night of the 1994 earthquake in LA when he genuinely believed his time on earth was up. "I lay in bed thinking, 'If only I had pursued all my dreams, if only I had tried harder to get acting work'. When I am eventually on my deathbed, I want to be able to say that, even if nothing came of it, at least I gave it a shot."

Luke Solly
Waiter to make-up artist

Having studied fashion design for years, including a degree course at St Martin's, Luke Solly, 29, left education to find that getting on in the fashion world was virtually impossible. "There just aren't that many jobs," he explains, "and so much competition." He turned to waiting tables to pay the rent. Meanwhile, he decided to undertake an eight-week course in make- up: " I thought it would be something I would enjoy and a more attainable path to follow."

Two years later, Solly has an impressive portfolio of work behind him, including making-up MTV host and former SM:TV presenter Cat Deeley and Radio 1 star Sara Cox. He has worked on pop videos and regularly works for MTV. But there is no sign of him giving up waiting tables just yet.

"There are months when you get three or four jobs a week," he says, "and months

where you get nothing." Luckily, his employers at Sophie's Steakhouse in Battersea, where he also works with an aspiring singer and an actress, are flexible with his shifts.

But Solly's schedule is punishing. He is often working until the early hours of the morning at the restaurant and must be up at the crack of dawn to get to a shoot.

"Within six months I want to be out of waiting tables and doing make-up full time," he declares, "even if it means tightening the purse strings for a while. The more energy and effort I put into it, the more I think things will really happen for me."

Clare Dowse
Journalist to barrister

For the past five years, Clare Dowse has worked almost every waking hour. During the day she does shifts for various magazines as a freelance sub- editor, and in the evenings and at the weekends she studies law.

"I've always been interested in law," says Dowse, "but it simply never occurred to me that I could do it, especially become a barrister. I just thought it was one of those careers that wasn't open to someone like me, with a background where none of my family were involved in the profession."

She pursued a successful career as a journalist but never got law out of her head. Then, at almost 30, she learned of a part-time law degree course at London University's Birkbeck College. Five years on, she is doing her Bar School finals.

During this time she has made enormous sacrifices: she hasn't been on holiday, hasn't had a relationship and has given up drinking, smoking and most of her social life ("for financial reasons and because I can't afford to be exhausted or under par").

"To pursue a career at the Bar the way I'm doing it, you have to be 120 per cent sure it's what you want," she says. "It is so arduous and expensive. I try not to have any low points. If I allowed myself any, I would have given up years ago."