Dame Kelly Holmes on being both a BT London 2012 and Kent Ambassador

Dame Kelly Holmes on being both a BT London 2012 and Kent Ambassador

Dame Kelly Holmes on being both a BT London 2012 and Kent Ambassador, what pride means to her and the values that underpin her own huge success...

I have been fulfilling my duty asa BT London 2012 Ambassador, firstly taking part in a photoshoot at the Globe Theatre in London with Wenlock (right), one of the official London 2012 mascots, to launch the BT search for storytellers.

The campaign is looking for people from all walks of life to share their experiences and thoughts about the London 2012 Games in a variety of creative ways. Its a great campaign to get involved in, so if you are an artist, photographer, poet, writer, dancer, singer, musician, make sure you visit the BTlondon2012/ website now.

I was also invited by BT to a reception at The Gherkin targeting top London 2012 stakeholders to promote and celebrate the role BT is playing as the official communications services partner for London 2012, responsible for delivering and running the communications services and infrastructure for the Games.

BT Tower was the focal point of the celebrations, with a spectacular firework display on the top of the Tower. Its getting very exciting and I hope youve all applied for your tickets!

Kent County Council held a head teacher seminar called Preparing for a Moment in History and as a Kent Olympic Ambassador I was invited to speak. The purpose was to get schools involved in using the Games coming to London and how it will benefit our current and future young people.

Four different cultural performances by local schools were led by Kieran Gaffney on drums, a year 10 student at Walmer Science College in Deal who appeared on Britains Got Talent in 2010. For the second performance Jordon-Lee Mitchell and Jemima Oloruntoba sang Born a Champion by Chris Brown, a rendition that literally gave me goosebumps! Jordon and Jemima are year 10 students at the North School and studying a level 2 BTEC in Performing Arts.

Highworths Breakin Hearts, runners-up in the national breakdance championships, Truskool, performed their showpiece for the southern qualifiers for this years championship.The last performance was the Olympic song Pride by Highworths Gospel Choir, with Deborah Mutabaruka. The choir sang at the SSAT National Conferencein Birmingham.

I then took to the stage to interview six young Ambassadors, asking them what they do in the role and what skills they have gained as a result.

To close my part as a Kent Olympic Ambassador I gave a speech about my own story as a young Kent pupil and athlete and the Olympics.

I also spoke about the values that underpin my success in life, focusing on the meaning of PRIDE:

P Personal Excellence
R Respect and Friendship
I Inspiration
D Determination
E Equality

I expressed what PRIDE means to me and linked it to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, explaining how London 2012 is a real key moment in a young persons life, and why now is the time to do something special.