Housewife first on Fourth Plinth

Rachel Wardell wants to raise awareness of the NSPCC

A housewife is to be the first to stand on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth for Antony Gormley's art project.

Rachel Wardell, 35, from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, will become Gormley's first 'living statue' for his One and Other project at 0900 BST on 6 July.

The project will see a different person take their place on the central London plinth every hour over 100 days. The plinth will be occupied 24 hours a day.

One and Other has, so far, attracted 14,500 applications from across the UK.

Ms Wardell said: "I like the idea of the arts as inclusive rather than exclusive and feel like this is something that Antony Gormley, and this project in particular, embrace.

I wanted to be able to represent normal, everyday stay-at-home mums who aren't normally a feature of major artworks Rachel Wardell

"I wanted to be able to represent normal, everyday stay-at-home mums who aren't normally a feature of major artworks - 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.

"I never expected to get a place so hadn't thought about what to do and I never expected to be first.

"I don't want to say anything about me, but what is important to me is children. That's why I want to raise awareness of the NSPCC".

Ms Wardell will be followed at 1000 BST by Jason Clark, a 41-year-old a nurse from Brighton.

Other people to take to the plinth on the first day include Jill Gatcum, 51, a consultant from London, Suren Seneviratne, a 22-year-old Sri Lankan student and artist, and Ishvinder Singh Matharu, a 31-year-old optometrist from Chigwell in Essex.

All 2,400 participants are chosen at random by a computer and can do anything they want on the plinth as long as it is legal.

Applications will be accepted until 1 September when the last group of people are chosen.