FORMER Greenhill school pupil Sita Thomas will be going for gold as she performs in the Olympic Opening Ceremony next week.

Sita has been rehearsing since February as one of the volunteer performers working with Oscar winning director Danny Boyle to realise his creative vision for this spectacle, the most-watched globally televised event. Alongside her will be Penally resident mum Helen, who has been helping to co-ordinate the performers as a member of the casting team.

Helen and Sita were not revealing any secrets about the content of the ceremony this week, but Helen enthused: "We are both incredibly excited. Working towards this has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Although Sita is one of a mass cast, there may be TV close-ups and it is worth watching closely to try to spot her."

Helen and Sita would love friends throughout Pembrokeshire to join in the fun and recommend visiting a London 2012 website called Local Leaders http://www.london2012.com/join-in/local-leaders">www.london2012.com/join-in/local-leaders which has lots of ideas and resources for planning your Opening Night in. If you tell London 2012 your plans by emailing [email protected]">[email protected] they will send you a free Local Leaders pin badge (subject to availability).

Another way to get involved is by joining in a mass UK-wide bell-ringing session at exactly 12 minutes past eight on the morning of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Friday, July 27. You can ring any sort of bell - a bicycle bell, school bell, alarm clock bell - wherever you are, so long as you ring it loudly for three minutes! http://www.allthebells.com">www.allthebells.com

Busy Sita is also assistant choreographer for the Team Welcome Ceremonies that take place in the Olympic Village. These formally welcome the athletes and team officials to the Games and include 30-minute shows performed by the National Youth Theatre of GB and the protocol of raising flags and playing national anthems. The ceremonies started this week and 204 Olympic teams will be welcomed over 10 days and 170 Paralympic teams in six days.

Helen is the Once in a Lifetime project officer for Voluntary Arts and Making Music and over the past two years has been promoting opportunities for members of voluntary arts and crafts organisations throughout the UK to participate in the Cultural Olympiad. She would like to hear from any organisations such as choirs, amateur theatre or dance groups that have been involved in London 2012 activities such as Open Weekend, Inspire Mark and animating the route of the Olympic Torch Relay. You can email your stories to [email protected]">[email protected] and these may be published on the website http://www.voluntaryarts.org">www.voluntaryarts.org .