Rachel Wardell was due to be the first person on the fourth plinth

A 35-YEAR-OLD housewife will be the first person to take to Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth when Antony Gormley's "living statue" project kicks off next week.

Mother of two Rachel Wardell, from Sleaford in the East Midlands, says she is still deciding how she will spend her hour. But she plans to raise awareness of the NSPCC.

She said today: "I'm a stay-at-home mum with two young children, and felt moved to get involved with this because I like the idea of the arts as inclusive. I wanted to be able to represent normal, everyday mums - to show my kids now, and when they're older, that you can do, and be part of anything, no matter how ordinary you are or feel."

Wardell will step on to the plinth at 9am on Monday 6 July, paving the way for 2,400 members of the public who will follow suit for an hour each, 24 hours a day, for 100 days. The participants must all apply and be picked at random by computer.

Also appearing on day one are Jason Clark, a 41-year-old nurse from Brighton who plans to "be himself" and read a book; 51-year-old Jill Gatcum, a consultant from London who will release 60 balloons; 22-year-old Sri Lankan Goldsmiths graduate Suren Seneviratne, who plans a "performance piece", and Ishvinder Singh Matharu, a 31-year-old optomestrist from Chigwell, whose plans have not yet been revealed.

The project, titled One & Other , has already received 14,500 applications to date. The 615 people picked to take part in July are aged from 16 to 83, and also include a wheelchair-bound pensioner from Oxford, an aquatic scientist from Birmingham, and a English teacher from London for whom Trafalgar Square holds a special place in her heart.

Applications for the project remain open until 1 September and can be made at www.oneandother.co.uk.

Sky Arts will be broadcasting the live action from the Fourth Plinth, 24 hours a day, at the same website, while a weekly highlights show will be screened on Fridays at 7pm on Sky Arts 1.