AS ATHLETES from around the region pick up medals at the Olympic Games, one volunteer is gearing up for her own summer in Rio.

Primla Smith will be heading out to Brazil at the end of the month to work as a volunteer in the athletes village at the Paralympic Games.

The 53-year-old from Burnham has been volunteering across the globe at various international events, and will assist the Irish team at the games during September.

She said: "I will be helping out with any admin during the day, taking athletes to training venues or taking them out shopping, as well as anything else that is required.

"We need to be there to welcome all of the athletes, and there will be a welcoming ceremony and we will be helping them with the the opening ceremony, making sure that the team is ready and lined up in the right sequences to enter the stadium.

"I will have four days off in that time so it is going to be busy. The demands of the athletes and the admin work will be quite high."

Mrs Smith flies out to Rio on August 31, and will return to the UK on September 21.

The IT consultant at Telefonica O2 has a lot of experience of working at major events over 19 years of volunteering, mainly through the St John's Ambulance service, and has been given the time off by her employers to work at the games.

She has worked at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley in 2011 and the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

She said: "The London Olympics was the best. Being in the athletes village, seeing the interaction between the athletes and to see the atmosphere and meeting people from all different cultures and backgrounds - it was just such a special time.

"The Olympics didn't start off that well but because of the volunteers and the great advert they had, people started to get tickets and when they released tickets for the Paralympics they snapped up the tickets.

"It was a great atmosphere and people really came together, it was great for the nation."

She added: "Each place is different as they have their own cultures. You learn things about countries and about the people. People tend to gel together at these occasions - we come into their country and we are on big team, like a big family."