At the event he entertained guests with tales about how it all started, how he finally made it to the Winter Olympic Games, how his life changed after the games and what it was like to have a movie made about him.

Speaking after the lunch, Eddie said: “I had a great time in Nottingham. The NCBC lunch was a great occasion – I had a wonderful meal and lots of fun delivering my speech and meeting members and guests. It was also good to raise money for the club’s chosen charity Harmless and support such a worthwhile cause.”

Nottingham City Business Club was established in 1924, making it one of the oldest business club’s outside of London, its membership comprises of senior representatives of the local business community.

The club holds monthly lunch meetings for members to meet fellow business people in the city, with different prominent guest speakers featuring at each event.

This year’s Christmas event was sponsored by Your IT Department and Your Comms with Young Professionals and Notts County Football Club.

President of the club, Rich Cooper, added: This year’s Christmas lunch event was a huge success and got everyone really into the festive spirit. Eddie was the perfect celebrity guest speaker and everyone enjoyed listening to his stories of his time competing in the limelight.”

At the event, over £2,500 was raised by NCBC members and guests for local mental health service, Harmless – the business club’s chosen charity for the year.

The next Nottingham City Business Club lunch will take place on Friday 17 January 2020 at the Park Plaza Hotel, on Maid Marian Way, Nottingham, with registration beginning at 11:45am. Tickets cost £27.50 for members and £39.50 for non-members. To book a place and for further information, visit the NCBC website: nottinghamcitybusinessclub.co.uk.