Mark Foster's blog by Mark_Foster

Hello everyone. Well the week started off with tennis at the O2 with the added bonus of getting tickets for Tuesday night and Thursday night - all courtesy of Gess and Martin, such a great couple of days. On the Tuesday I saw a fantastic match between Nadal and Federer. It was awesome tennis and always great to see those two battling it out and with the luxury of a private box complete with wine and drink. I met some great people so we had a great night out. Then I was back at the O2 on the Thursday with my mate Emma Wilkinson and our respective parents. More wonderful tennis between Federer and Fish and I had a chance to catch up with my mate Andrew Castle who was commentating for the BBC. Honestly I lead such a charmed life sometimes.......

Then I was off to St Neots in Cambridgeshire to talk to the local school children about my life in sport and the 2012 Olympics. I just love doing these talks with school kids especially the young ones. They always ask such interesting and sometimes bizarre questions. As well as wanting to know about medals, winning and sport, They want to know what was my favourite hobby when I was four(?!) and who was my best friend when I was seven? You just gotta love 'em. I also took the assembly and the kids and the teachers all made me feel welcome. Then it was off to the coast for the weekend and once again blessed by the weather although it was so warm and sunny it is starting to feel ever so slightly weird and eerie. But it was great being by the sea; walking, reading the papers and catching up with sleep. Bliss!!

I came back to London on in time to go to the gym and head off into town for the annual Jaguar Academy Sports Awards. This is a fantastic event held at the Savoy Hotel and is a gathering of the great and the good who come together to present awards to the stars of the previous year and recognise the stars of tomorrow. They also hand out sponsorship to support sporting hopefuls in the coming year. The evening was hosted by James Corden and Kirsty Gallacher who were both edgy and funny in equal amounts, although sometimes a bit too close to the bone, but we had a great night. To find out more about the Jaguar Sports Academy. To find out more about the Jaguar Sports Academy visit the website.

December 1st is Worlds Aids Day and everyone is asked to be mindful of the fact that HIV has not gone away just because it is out of the media's eye. And it is there to remind us that there is still much to do to raise awareness. I did my bit by agreeing to be photographed for the Terence Higgins Trust's new campaign Stand Up Stand Out which is all about raising awareness and encouraging everyone to talk about HIV and the importance of practicing safe sex. I was photographed in red underpants along with the Saracens Rugby Team. I went to the launch of the campaign held at the Criterion in Piccadilly and caught up with David Walliams and his beautiful wife Lara Stone who was also there to lend THT their support. Nice night for a very good cause...

Well the word is out now that I will be taking part in the Strictly Come Dancing Tour starting in January. I have been paired up with Natalie Lowe and it’s starting to feel real especially as the TV show is nearing its climax. The photo shoot for the tour has taken place and I will be meeting up with all the people to promote the tour and announce the dates.....all scary stuff. Have a good week.