We Got the Grant!

Back in July we asked our Facebook followers to vote. We needed support to win an Australian Ethical Community Grant, which we were going to use to bring BikeRescue to the Pilbara.

Thanks to the strength of the proposed program and the support of our followers, Dismantle was one of 19 organisations selected from over 500 applicants.

Australian Ethical is a superannuation company that invests solely in ethical causes and 10% of their profits go towards this grant scheme. Now, $15k of that is all Dismantle’s, and we’re going to use it to extend the reach and impact of BikeRescue in a whole new way.

That new way is licensing. Lately we’ve been working on a program where we train up groups or organisations outside of the Perth metro area, and then offer ongoing remote support and resources to help them deliver BikeRescue in their region.

We applied for the The Australian Ethical funds to help set up a licensing partnership with Pilbara Community Service Ltd (PCSL),  a not-for-profit organisation contracted by the Department of Corrective Services to provide reintegration & rehabilitation services in the Pilbara. We'll be running the program up there in two parts. 50% of the program time will go towards train-the-trainer sessions with indigenous adults, where we’ll teach them how to fix bikes, and about the methodology behind BikeRescue. The other 50% will go towards a demo program, where the trained up adults will run a BikeRescue program for local at-risk kids, under the support and guidance of Dismantle staff.

Roebourne is a town doing it really tough. It has recently carried such unglamorous titles in the media as ‘Town of the Damned’ and has become notorious for drug, alcohol and child abuse. There are a lot of people in that town and the wider region, kids and adults alike,  who will substantially benefit from BikeRescue. Plus, having a delivery partner embedded in the community will allow for some awesome impact. It’s a really effective way of extending Dismantle’s reach in a sustainable way and we’re excited to get started.

Thanks so much to Australian Ethical, to everyone who voted, and to everyone who’s been working on making the project a reality!

Dismantle on the Radio

Dismantle was on the radio! Earlier this month Johno Montgomery, our Programs Director, did a killer interview on the ABC Radio Perth’s Saturday Breakfast Program.

The Meet Me on the Corner segment had a war on waste theme that week. Johno talked about how Dismantle uses old bikes as a really effective tool to engage at-risk kids. Here’s some audio we captured from the interview – it’s not the best quality, but Johno is, so that balances it out.  

Workplace Giving

Dismantle has recently thrown its hat into the ring as a Workplace Giving Charity. That means that staff at organisations with Workplace Giving programs can donate pre-tax wages to causes they’re into.

It’s part of the One Million Donors Campaign the Government set up in 2014. The project is overseen by the Australian Charities Fund, the not-for-profit social enterprise that conceived the idea of workplace giving programs. One Million Donors aims to get one million people Australians donating through their workplace by 2020.

The program itself makes heaps of sense. Employees are happy because giving feels good and they get to be part of something bigger; employers are happy because their staff are happy (improved productivity, morale, retention and recruitment); and Dismantle is happy because we get some money for our programs, plus general awareness and support across the business sector.

Check out the campaign if you’re part of a workplace that might want to get involved. It’s a really easy way to support Dismantle’s work. There’s a toolkit for employers on the website where you can download a project plan, figure out which charities your employees want to support, sort out the logistics with payroll and more.

For more information about how you may be able to support Dismantle, through Workplace Giving or otherwise, check out the Workplace Giving page in the 'Support Us' section of our website.

Dismantle's Containers are on the Move!

Dismantle’s two shipping containers are moving from Esplanade Park in Fremantle, after six-and-a-half years on the site. And we need your help. 

The containers represent a really special period in Dismantle’s history. They were installed in the park at the end of 2011, back then the organisation was being founded by a group of enthusiastic, community-minded people who were figuring out ways to use bikes for positive change.Since then, the organisation has accomplished so much, supporting kids doing it tough in Perth and all across regional WA.

Meanwhile, the containers have seen heaps action. They were Dismantle’s HQ until we moved into an office on Cantonment Street in mid 2012; Dismantle ran some of its first BikeRescue programs out of them; and they were the site of our Community Bicycle Workshop, a volunteer driven project the organisation ran at the beginning. They’ve been the starting and ending points of Tweed Runs, they’ve been canvases for Fast Track participants, they’ve been invaluable storage facilities for our programs, and in 2014 they became part of the Esplanade Youth Plaza.

Since then, the organisation has grown and changed, the Esplanade Youth Plaza has changed. Despite hundreds of hours of work over the last three years to use the space, in the end of a lack of resources got us – as it does for lots of charities – and we just couldn’t make it work in the long term. Ultimately we have to focus on our core purpose.

The containers will be moving in the next few weeks. They’ll be donated to other organisations who share our social mission: to enable young people in difficult situations to reach their full potential.

However, we’re going to need some help to get them on their way. There’s a huge amount of paperwork and logistics to figure out first. We’re passionate youth workers, not construction management experts, and we’re struggling to get it done on our own. If anyone out there has experience with site management, logistics and planning, please get in touch.