The date of the Access Sport fund raising dinner is fast approaching. We are holding it at Lord's cricket ground in North London, and it's going to involve the ultimate sports quiz - with stars from the world of sport acting at team captains. I am hosting the night with Olympic legend James Cracknell, and the hugely talented impressionist Jon Culshaw will be giving us a star turn. If you want tickets there are just a handful left which you can get via the charity's website www.accesssport.co.uk

The charity is all about getting kids off the street, out of crime, boredom, and obesity danger zone and into sport. The charity looks to inspire the disaffected youth of today. We all feel strongly that positive change can be made, and that Access Sport can give kids the chance to channel their frustration, aggression, energy and enthusiasm in a productive direction. As Obama has proved - change is good! Hope you will support what we are trying to do.

Many thanks

Nats x

My American friend Ethan Zohn embarked today on an epic dribble down the East coast of the US. He is going to kick a football every day for around 4 months, finishing in Washington DC on World AIDs day - Dec 1st. Slightly mad I know - but all for a great cause - all funds raised will go to the charity Ethan co-founded, Grassroot Soccer, which educates kids about HIV and AIDs through football. Support him, and follow his progress by clicking on www.grassrootsoccerunited.org

Good Luck Ethan!

We are busy organising the Access Sport Dinner which takes place on 26th November 2008 at Lords. It promises to be a cracking night with loads of top class sportsmen and women taking part in 'Questions of Sport' alongside faces from TV and the silver screen. If you want to find out more about the event check out our website www.accesssport.co.uk

I've been in the States now since July, and I have to say that I am enjoying every minute of my time here. I am based in New York which is an incredible city. Anything goes. People watching is off the scale. Only last week I saw a man and his dog wearing matching pink lycras - the dog (well more like a guinea pig really) was actually wearing little pink booties. What I loved even more than the outfit itself was the fact that no other passers-by seemed to bat an eyelid. People don't seem to judge one another out here, they just let their fellow New Yorkers get on with it.

With regards to the soccer (I am still getting used to saying that as opposed to football) the standard is actually pretty high...well higher than many back home realise. Defence - as in lack of it - seems to be the common downfall of many of the matches though. However what they lack, compared to the European games, in skill and tactical awareness they make up for in physical presence, athleticism and sheer bloody mindedness.

There are some great characters in MLS. Last week I went to LA for the huge local derby between Chivas USA and LA Galaxy (at which the atmosphere was as electric as at any Premiership match I've been to). Galaxy were comprehensibly beaten (3 nil) which, combined with losing in the Final of the SuperLiga against Mexico Champs Pachuca, means a pretty disappointing season for Beckham and his new colleagues. One highlight of the trip for me though was getting a lesson in goal keeping skills from Galaxy goalie Joe Cannon. Now those of you who haven't seen this fella in action may wonder what a man who has let in 8 goals in two games (fyi result v NY Red Bulls was 5-4 in favour of the New York side) is doing giving a masterclass in shoot stopping. In his defence (pun intended) he has had flashes of sheer brilliance this season, but has struggled with a young often tactically naive defence in front of him. ANYWAY I learnt how to throw myself around in front of the goal mouth - 'properly' - I didn't realise there was such a specific technique to falling on the ground! I had to jump straight on a flight back to the Big Apple covered in grit and grass stains, but with a new sense of soccer awareness.

It has to be said that GK's are slightly odd. In a good way. But odd nonetheless. I reckon you've got to be of a strange old mindset wanting to be the last line of defence. Rarely do they get the accolades of a striker who has scored to secure a win, and yet the role is as important if not more so. Cannon was a lovely bloke though, intelligent and well read - again not attributes overly common in footballers. Not wishing to generalise.... OBVIOUSLY! That piece will go out on the US and International shows tonight (FSC in America).

Yesterday we went to the US Open to try and find out which footy teams the tennis players support for a feature for the English version of David Beckham's Soccer USA. We caught up with a lot of the Hispanic players - who without exception love their football. The American tennis stars are coming round to the idea of soccer, thanks in no small part to the arrival of Beckham in MLS. To find out who all the top names in tennis follow on the footy pitch watch the Channel Five show on Thurs 6th Sept....or you can see it on You Tube under MLS...the following day.

I'm off now to clean the flat. My friend Gus is letting me crash at his apartment all summer. Thanks for that geeser. One condition however is that I keep the place spotless. Better find the marigolds. Bye for now.

We went straight from the Microsoft UK Challenge over to the pretty seaside town of Barmouth (courtesy of James Fenton's luxury -ish motorhome) for the start of the Powerbar Three Peaks Yacht Race; where teams of five had to sail between North Wales and Fort William, Scotland and climb the three highest peaks in the UK en route. I stayed at the lovely Richmond House, and that long comfortable night's sleep proved to be both the literal and metaphorical calm before the storm.

I know that I sometimes rant on about how hard these events are in the Channel 4 Adrenalin Rush series - but this one really is staggeringly tough. Its a continuous race through truly treacherous conditions (remember how much wind and rain we've had of late - imagine facing all that out at sea in a bobbing boat). It takes about 4 or 5 days but that depends entirely on the wind as teams can only rely on wind and leg power to get them up the coast of the country. By the time they finished they had sailed 389 miles, cycled 30 miles, climbed 14,500 feet and run 60 miles. Now that's going some. Hats well and truly off to all those who took part.
Pictures from the race (which was started by the legendary Max Boyce MBE) can be found in the Adventure Sports section on this site.

The show goes out on Channel 4 on Sunday Sept 9th at 8am - it's an hour long special because lets face it there is no way we could have crammed in all the drama, peaks and troughs of one of the world's toughest yacht races in anything less than 60 mins. Trust me you are in for a real treat!

It was only down to fortunate timing that this event was able to happen at all; we filmed the Microsoft UK Challenge in Sheffield and beat the floods by just a couple of days. So lady luck was on our side but that's not to say the weather was kind to us, the teams getting drenched on all 7 stages of Intelligent Sport.

It was fantastically well organised though, and it would take more than a few drops of rain to dampen the spirits of the hundred or so eager teams taking part. In case you don't know, this event is best described as the ultimate team building exercise. Corporates send teams of four or five to take part in both physical and mental challenges; so they have to answer puzzles and push their bodies to the absolute limit on foot, bike and boat. An extraordinary sense of camaraderie develops, and by the end of the three day adventure colleagues who probably beforehand had only ever exchanged nods in the canteen are hugging, high fiving and cementing enduring friendships.

Teamwork is everything. Everyone has something to offer, so its all about division of labour and working to individual strengths for the greater good of the team. Its empowering and exhilirating as each person walks away feeling like they have contributed. All good stuff; and it makes for pretty gripping telly too, which is exactly why we are featuring it on our Adrenalin Rush series on Channel 4.

So here we are back up in Bonnie Scotland for the World Championships of Adventure Racing. It is the creme de la creme of outdoor racing events - with the very best from around the world taking part. For full details of the event check out the website www.arwc2007.com

Unlike the rest of the UK we enjoyed a bank holiday weekend of glorious sunshine up here. I'm told by the locals that they believe their neck of the woods to be near on perfect (and I'm not inclined to disagree). However they have mixed feelings about the rest of the world finding out about the stunning natural beauty given that they want some tourism but don't want the place overrun by out of towners; so they explain one way to keep at least some of them way are the midgies. Now these little buggers don't seem to serve any purpose other than to eat you alive. They create a red lump on your skin which is about 30 times bigger than they are. On the last count I had 27 bites; 19 on my face. Great look. We were all issued with obligatory face nets - and we still managed to do most things whilst wearing them - eating, drinking, chatting - my pieces to camera were one step too far though; so off it came and in came the flesh eating monsters.

Ok over with the drama queen moment.

We're on day 3 now and the 300 or so crazy athletes taking part have gone since Sunday with little or no sleep - braving the at times unforgiving Scottish Highland terrain, throughout the day and night, and in the wind and the rain (there is even some snow stubbornly hanging on, on top of Ben Nevis) in fact there is very little that will stop these super human athletes. Impressive stuff.

What motivates them? I am not sure that I will ever really know; but I do know that on the whole they are decent family people with day jobs and in many cases fairly run of the mill lives; put them in a wet suit and pop a head lamp on them though and they turn into amphibious creatures with boundless energy and steely determination with athleticism of an experienced professional sportsman or woman.

The show goes on Sunday 8th July at 8am on Channel 4, and it will give you some idea (but only an idea) of the incredible feat these competitors are taking on. 532 kilometres in little over 4 days. They swim, kayak, run, and cycle - with a spot of night canyoning thrown in for good measure; and all without getting more than 2 hours of kip every 24 hours. Madness, but structured madness, which you can't help but take your hat off too.

Kiwi cameraman Don prepares himself and his camera from the inevitable wet weather that will follow.

What's this? Sun in Scotland!? We enjoyed glorious weather for the whole of the Bank Holiday weekend. Producer Scamp and I have a little sit down to soak up a few rays.

Never let the midges get between you and a cheeky pre-supper drink!

The Caribbean? The Maldives? No it's the West Coast of Scotland. Stunning aye!?

When Conrad Brunner from Pokerstars (who sponsor the European Poker Tour) called to ask what I was doing on the evening of Tues 22nd, I was quick to decline whatever invitation it was given that I was like the walking dead after the antics in Cannes the week before and the European Cup Final on the sunday in which Wasps took an unlikely win - and the beers flowed freely afterwards. However when he said that it was to join the cast of Oceans 13 on a private yacht in Antibes Harbour....well I replied that my current state was nothing a berroca and a quick power nap couldn't fix.

Pokerstars made a massive donation to George Clooney and co's charity Not On Our Watch - to the tune of 1 million Euros. The Charity was set up by Clooney to raise much needed funds and awareness for the catastrophic problems currently facing those in Darfur. The party in Cannes was a launch if you like for the campaign which coincided with the premiere of the new Oceans 13 movie. Given Pokerstars huge generosity - Georgie boy kindly invited a handful of Pokerstars representatives to their yacht - and joy of joys my lovely sponsors extended the invite to me. I was ALL IN baby.

What a great night. Somewhat surreal - having your favourite stars from the silver screen milling around you....but they were genuinely all such down to earth people. I guess you only achieve that kind of A list status if you have a certain x factor - a sprinkling of something special and that's rarely coupled with (although this is of course a generalisation) arrogance. The actors were whisked around the yacht talking animatedly to all who were interested (which lets face it was everyone). Mr Clooney talked sincerely about his passion and commitment for making a difference in Darfur, which was good to know. At least he doing his bit. He is using his fame to bring the world's attention to a crisis zone which could otherwise be so easily overlooked in the way Rwanda was in 1994.

Talking of Rwanda another guy who was there was Don Cheadle - who so brilliantly portrayed Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda. He told me that he and Paul became friends after shooting that movie. Its good to know, that in this crazy world of celebrity, that many of those truly worth of that tag, are socially, politically and globally aware; and keen to make the mark in this world.

Ok so you enough of that. You want some gossip right?! Well soz I don't have any for you. Rubbish I know, but the night was one for the memory bank. We finished up with a game of poker - naturally. Mr Damon's stunning wife Lucy proved she is not just a pretty face and scooped two big pots much to the surprise of the more experienced players round the table; including her husband.

Thanks Mark, Tamar, Susan and co from Pokerstars, and Joe and Genie Hachem - you were all brilliant company. Much to Genie's amusement the film's cast all recognised and approached Joe - asking him for poker tips etc. Brilliant. He should dine out on that for a long time to come!

My buddy Liz Bonnin and I decided to pop over to Cannes for a couple of days for the film festival the week before last. It's cheap as chips on SleazyJet provided of course you go at some unearthly hour - but that was all part of the adventure. So we hopped across to the South of France which is actually where Liz grew up - so she enjoyed a reminiscent trip down memory lane.

On the first night we went along to the screening of a new film 'In The Hands of the Gods' (AKA In Search of Diego) produced and directed by our friends Ben Winston, and brothers Ben and Gabe Turner. Now you often worry with mates' films (especially those produced on such a tight budget) that you are going to have to force a white lie as to how much you enjoyed it...no need with this one. What a great film. It's all about 5 working class lads who have grown up idolising arguably the world's greatest ever footballer Diego Maradonna. They share a passion for the beautiful game, and a talent for freestyling with a football. They are set the task of busking their way over to Argentina to meet their hero. Its moving, funny and really well shot and produced. Big thumbs up boys. It's out in the UK in September . A must see.

Nike threw a party for the lads after the screening at the Century Club on the beach in Cannes. The 5 lads kept the audience (which included Jude Law, Jessica Simpson and Cesc Fabregas) captivated with their fancy little keepie uppies and ball skills. Football, cocktails and the beach What a combo.

Race For Life - 5k around Battersea Park

Emma and I enjoyed a speedy trot around Battersea Park tonight. We took part in the Race For Life with around 5 thousand other women. There was such a great atmosphere down there. A balmy evening- but with just enough breeze to keep us cool. It was a bit of a bun fight at the start, with girls and ladies of all different shapes and sizes bumping into one another, laughing and chatting; an electic mix with a bond - the shared desire to run for Cancer Research UK. Seeing all the signs on the runners backs - as to who they were running for - gave you goosebumps. We all know someone effected by cancer, my lovely Mum thankfully survived it - and not a day goes by when I am not grateful for that. Emma's Dad was sadly not so lucky; he died last summer; and I can tell it is all the motivation my wonderful friend needs to fundraise at every opportunity for the cause.

It really is a cracking event...no training required - honest....there were even some girls walking in jeans and 'pumps' as Em calls them! There was no competitive element to it for them, just a sense of purpose, and unity. Which in itself must have provided a real sense of comfort for all those robbed of loved ones by the big C.