Can you help keep the Imps' flame burning?

One of Britain’s best-loved motorcycle display teams has launched an appeal to raise enough money to buy a new fleet of bikes and save its future.

The Imps motorcycle display team, originally formed in the 1970s to give kids from London’s East End some discipline and structure, have just four weeks to raise £36,000.

Without the new bikes the kids on the team won’t be able to fulfil their first show commitment of the new season and their fire-jumping antics could come to a sad end.

The London-based team is a registered charity and they need the money to buy 20 new Stomp bikes to be able to carry on displays for the next three years.

Years of generous sponsorship from Honda recently came to an end and the Imps’ existing Stomp machines, bought when the Honda deal ended, are now worn out.

The team needs the new machines to keep them going while it tries to negotiate a new sponsorship deal with a bike manufacturer.

A Crowdfunder campaign to raise £16,000 of the amount required has already raised over £10,000. But the team will only receive the money if the campaign reaches its target, otherwise those who pledge cash will get their money back.

The Imps were formed in 1973 as part of the Hackney Adventure Project, which was designed to help educate and motivate disadvantaged children. Hundreds of kids have benefited from the discipline of being in the team over the past 42 years and the team’s founder Roy Pratt was awarded an MBE in 2002.

Former Imp Jamie Waller, who now sponsors the team, has launched the online campaign to keep the team going.

He said: “Roy is still doing the training at weekends now and it has been a lifelong project for him. The Imps project has done a lot of good over the years and we need to make sure it continues.”

To see the online campaign and make a pledge, click here… http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/imps-motocycle-display-team-for-young-children