Local Carpet shop in Fife gives generous donation of £600 to kids motorcycle club

Broadway Carpets has given a generous donation of £600 to Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle after doubling their original donation to the community-based club which provides a safe and controlled environment for young people to ride motorbikes.
Jamie Blake and his son Lewis outside the family business in Lochgelly after donating a generous sum to the motorcycle club (photo: John Mcintyre).Jamie Blake and his son Lewis outside the family business in Lochgelly after donating a generous sum to the motorcycle club (photo: John Mcintyre).
Jamie Blake and his son Lewis outside the family business in Lochgelly after donating a generous sum to the motorcycle club (photo: John Mcintyre).

Jamie Blake, the owner of Broadway Carpets in Lochgelly who has fond childhood memories of motorbiking, decided to give the generous donation to the motorcycle club after hearing about the work they do for the community.

"I just thought it was such a great thing they were doing for kids in the community who maybe can’t afford to pay for a motorbike but want to have a go.” Mr Blake said, "I used to motorcycle when I was a kid and it was some of the best memories of my life.

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"I was lucky enough that my parents were able to afford a bike but there are a lot of kids who just can’t.”

Speaking about how the donation came about, Mr Blake said: "John Mcintyre who’s a friend of mine and volunteers at the club came in one day and we were talking about the club and I said the next person who buys something here I’ll give the money to the club - that came to about £300 but after seeing wee videos of the work they were doing later on I decided to double that.”

Mr Blake added: "During the pandemic, business has been strong for us so if we can support a local cause like this then we’re going to."

With a motor-cross track based in Ballingry and a few trials riding areas, the motorcycle club which began in 2003 hopes to encourage positive attitudes towards motorcycling which will encourage young people to develop.

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David Paton who runs the motorcycle club said they are very grateful to Broadway Carpets and everyone else for their donations during lockdown.

He said: “With level three we’ve had to scale back and we’re not actually operating the track at the moment but we are still doing some trials riding for Fife residents and workshop activity for young people.

“But it’s been quite difficult to generate income over the summer when we had no activities running at all so it’s a huge massive thank you to everyone who’s been donating and big thanks to Broadway Carpets in particular for their very generous donation.

“Without these donations we wouldn’t be able to purchase the bikes which would be a non-starter particularly for the kids from the most deprived areas who would struggle to pay for this kind of equipment so it’s great for us to offer that opportunity to them.”

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The contribution from the Lochgelly carpet shop will go towards buying a YAMAHA PW50 - roughly £2,000- for children as young as three years old.

On their list to Santa, the club also hope to buy a slightly bigger model a YAMAHA TTR 125 - around £2,500-which will suit riders from about age 10.

They are currently doing a Christmas raffle including tyres, coaching sessions, alcoholic beverages for parents and a vegetable hamper to raise more funds.

People can find out more and donate to the club via their Facebook page, Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club.

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