His gran Barbara White, 67, has run Lynbar Majorette Troope in Holbeck Moor for 26 years.

She watched proudly in the wings as Craig reached the semi finals of the TV show last year.

But now Barbara and Craig need public backing of a different kind as the troupe faces financial crisis.

Craig, 18, said: "It's desperate. We really need a sponsor. It costs £600 for a coach. It's becoming a real struggle."

Craig, who learned to baton twirl at the age of two, now teaches himself voluntarily alongside best friends Lisa Caley, 27, and Hayley Chalders, 20. "All three of us are really close and we love teaching them. It's a shame it's not a more recognised sport."

The troupe has a fundraising team made up of mums in a desperate bid to raise cash.

They have held raffles, sponsored events and jumble sales but it isn't enough as uniforms need replacing and coaches paid for to get the troop to competitions.

Barbara said: "Craig has opened up the baton world to everyone. After he had been on Britain's Got Talent we had even more people join.
"We just really need help. Our biggest outgoing is the coaches but the uniforms are also starting to get old. We pass them down as far as we can but they are 10 or 11 years old now and we can't afford to replace them.

"We will never ever close, that will never happen - we will just have to keep doing the raffles, jumble sales and anything we can to keep going."

Craig won rave reviews last year with his twirling skills and made it to the semi finals after wowing judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden.

It was then revealed that Craig had kept his hobby hidden from his parents for 10 years, while making weekly visits to Barbara.

* Anyone who can help can ring Barbara on (0113) 2720272.