Olga Afanasieva-Marchant, 24, arrived in Hartlepool from Kalingrad in March and since then she has taken on an active role in the community.

She now runs a ballet and gymnastics class at the Brierton Community Sports Centre in conjunction with the Manor West Centre and is set to start teaching Polish and Russian.

Olga and her husband, Hartlepool man Carl Marchant, first became involved with the centre when they needed advice on translating Olga's qualifications into English.

Soon after, her potential was realised and she was asked to become a volunteer at the centre.

Her ballet class is now attended by 15 girls aged from seven to 12 and she will soon be teaching Polish children living in town how to speak English and Polish to people wanting to learn.

The first pupil signed up to learn Russian is the chairman of Hartlepool Borough Council, Carl Richardson, who regularly visits the country.

John Reid, chairman of the Manor West Centre, said: "Olga's first seven months here have been fantastic, she just slotted in. You would think she has been here forever. She just dropped in with the rest of the crew with no problems and is really excellent at what she does."

The ballet classes run every Tuesday from 5pm to 7pm and the Polish and Russian language classes will be starting in a matter of weeks.

Anyone who would like to find out more about Olga's classes should ring the centre on (01429) 273123.