Mark Foster's blog by Mark_Foster

It never ceases to amaze me how many people turn out for charity gigs, where they are always generous and in great spirits. I think it represents the best of the British spirit. The BCG charity day - Help A Capital Child is a brilliant example. A whole host of celebs and personalities were invited into the City to get involved with trading. Prince Harry opened proceedings with a bit of a fanfare. Then I arrived at the offices in Canary Wharf about midday by which time there had already been a revolving door of people in and out doing their bit.

I was there at the same time as Harry and Jamie Redknapp and I bumped into Peter Andre and several others all doing their bit to help out. I closed a few phone deals which made a couple of grand for the charity. It was a great atmosphere and it was rumoured that in total they raised millions which on just one day’s trading is pretty mind blowing. It makes you wonder how much money these guys make every day! For more information about the charity go here. 

This was followed by a proper job where I went to Burton College in Derby, to attend an awards ceremony and give a talk to the graduates. It was a bit of a drive, but I enjoy driving as I get to play my favourite tunes in the car and sing along at the top of my voice with no one listening. And with a four hour round trip, that’s a lot of tunes and a lot of singing! These are great gigs as everyone is appreciative of my being there and I get to share in their achievements as well. As part of my Olympic Ambassador’s role, I have been promoting The Torch Tour Exhibition which takes people on a journey through Olympic Torch Relay history. It showcases torches from past relays and you can have your photo taken with the prototype London 2012 Olympic Torch. Visitors are invited to share the journey by nominating someone who has made a real difference in their community to carry the Olympic Flame. Again, this is the sort of work I love doing as it brings the Olympics closer to the people and communities and creates a buzz about 2012. The nominations are closed but if you are interested in the torch route, you can find the information here.

I was invited to talk at the LA Fitness ASA initiative, where people are invite to swim in their (LA Fitness) pools independently of becoming members. This is something very close to my heart as I know that not everyone wants to become a member of a gym, but are tempted in to swim. LA Fitness has a lot of gyms, 80 in all and 79 of them have pools. So it's a great initiative if it gets people in the water. So if you live near an LA fitness gym which has a pool, get down and see what deals they are offering. Get in the water - it’s fun and a life skill you will keep for the rest of your life. I was joined by Alesha Dixon, who as ever looked stunning, although she didn't bring her swim suit!! She got away this time but I will get her in soon!!

And on matters swimming, I was invited to the London Swimming AGM. This is the regional branch of ASA in London hosted by Simon Greenberg (of News Corp) but in this capacity, was independent of his job. Simon is an enthusiastic swimmer and is interested in all things sporting and lends his weight and support to a number of initiatives. I was asked to attend as part of a Q&A session to get people excited about swimming in the capital. I am good mates with Simon and have known him since his days at Chelsea FC, so after the business we ended up chewing the fat (not literally) over a nice meal in Islington and catching up. So come on London - get swimming!

The weekend was a chance to catch up with my old mate Anthony Howard, the former GB Olympic swimmer who came down for a few days. As always it was a mixture of laughter and banter. We had dinner in the Union Club in Soho and a set the worlds of sport, mental health and politics to rights (it’s a long story....) On Saturday we both went off to Norwich to attend The Signs Express Annual Awards. I was invited to attend as inspirational speaker and be the MC for the evening. My speaking from scripts is not always the best so when they passed me 7 pages of A4 to read out, well my heart sank. Ant's face beamed! So I stumbled through the evening, which was a fantastic night full of funny banter with me getting names wrong, and being heckled by Ant. But what a great bunch of people. We finished about midnight and I drove back to London through the night with music blasting and clear open roads....bliss.

The next day was spent walking across Kenwood, buying cup cakes for Ant's partner who is expecting their first baby any day now, and visiting Gavin Myall's (Roost London) new offices in Pond Street Hampstead. We ended the evening watching Gary Oldman's new film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (a mind-boggling story but Gary Oldman is excellent). The next day we travelled down to Kent to a wine-tasting at Hush Estate, one of the best English Vineyards which produces the best sparkling wine in the country. It was a fascinating experience and I really learnt a lot about the wine-making process, in the setting of an amazing house and garden. If you are in any of the stores across the country that stock Balfour Wines, I really recommend that you try it.

And finally for my own bit of fund-raising, I have agreed to cycle from London to Brighton to raise money for The International Children’s Trust. They are a small children's charity who do some fantastic work all over the world with disadvantaged children. Last year I was particularly impressed with the work of a man called Ignatius, who when one of his twin boys was born with cerebral palsy. He couldn't find a school to offer him an education, so he quit his job and set up his own school offering education for disabled children. In rural India, that is no mean task. The school has been going for several years now and both of his boys are in university! So I agreed to help raise funds for his school, which means that on Sunday (24th September) I am setting off from London to cycle to Brighton. If any of you out there could afford to donate just a few quid it would be really appreciated. To give online please visit www.justgiving.com/bike4kidsworldwide and select the donate button or you can text IGIV20 plus an amount between £1 and £10 to 70070 (e.g. IGIV20 £5). I will keep you informed of my progress. Well that’s all folks - have a good weekend.