David ‘Flats’ Flatman a big hit at The Pythons’ Annual Dinner
Over 300 members, sponsors and guests attended The Pythons’ Annual held once again at The Old Swan Hotel. Supported by Main Sponsors Ripon Select Foods, Donelec Group, Harrogate Steel, Oracle Finance, The Spirit of Harrogate and new to the event CNG. The evening was MC’d by Simon Croft who ran the live auction, called the raffle prizes (donated by many Harrogate businesses) and refereed the heads and tails competition. The total raised for the club was just over £15k.
Flats recounted stories for around 20 minutes, which were both up to date and very amusing, giving us all an insight into the behind the scenes discussions with players and coaches. He went back to his playing days but spent most of the time on recent events in Japan at The RWC. He then switched to an open question session and spent a further 30-40 minutes still using anecdotes but giving his very attentive audience a totally different insight into ‘off the record’ interviews, coaches comments, players’ reactions, selection issues and of course the final game.
“ I saw Flats at The Wetherby Dinner earlier in the year and immediately knew he would be great for us”, said Julian Tatlow Chairman, “His inside knowledge of the Rugby World Cup was superb and the way he presented it was brilliant – not your usual Q&A,” he added.
“It was great to have Simon back, he always runs a ‘tight ship’. Great response from the room on the standard auction prizes but two items stand out. An 18ct white gold diamond pendant donated by Hugh Rice Jewellers, many thanks to Gavin Longridge. And also, a total surprise on the night, from one of our sponsors, 2 tickets for England Wales, plus 2 nights accommodation at The Marriott Hotel at Twickenham, with 2 seats in a private box on half way to include lunch and drinks. This is a dream prize and the funds raised will provide the drainage maintenance on our pitch for the next 2 season. I have said this before – the generosity of our sponsors in their support of our club never ceases to amaze me”, he concluded.
Other sponsors supporting the event were Beckwith Knowle Developments, Warehouse Storage Solutions – Port Sponsor and Sand Communications who sponsored Simon Godsave, the photographer.
