Charity Dingle (also Tate, Sharma and Macey) is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Emma Atkins. Suranne Jones originally auditioned for the role of Charity prior to Atkins being cast in the role. The actress began filming her first scenes in February 2000, and she made her first screen appearance as Charity during the episode broadcast on 30 March 2000. Actress Mica Proctor played a young Charity in a flashback episode about the character's past, which aired on 29 May 2018. The character has been involved in numerous high-profile storylines during her time on the show, such as her marriage to Chris Tate (Peter Amory), an affair with Chris's sister, Zoe Tate (Leah Bracknell), the arrival of her long-lost daughter Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb), her affair with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), being framed by Chris for his death, giving birth to Noah Tate (Jack Downham) and her uncaring relationship and subsequent break up with Tom King (Ken Farrington), which led to her exit on 1 March 2005. Atkins returned to the role on 1 October 2009. During her second stint in Emmerdale, Charity's storylines focused on her relationship with Cain, their get-rich-quick schemes, and her job working with Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson), whom she later married and divorced. Charity later married Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) and had a secret abortion, which led Declan to try to kill her. Atkins took maternity leave in February 2015, as Charity was sentenced to prison after confessing to her crimes. Atkins returned briefly from June to July and again in December that year, before making a permanent return in March 2016. Charity's storylines since then have seen her give birth to Moses Dingle, begin a relationship with Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick), to whom she later got engaged, and reveal that she was sexually abused by detective Mark Bails (Rocky Marshall) when she was a teenager, which led to the birth of their son Ryan Stocks (James Moore). More recent storylines have seen Charity split from Vanessa, become estranged from her family, and start a relationship with Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb). For her portrayal of Charity, Atkins has received nominations for Best Actress at the British Soap Awards.