Who doesn’t remember their first bike? That joy, the freedom experience that continues today.
Dismantle started in 2010 running a community bike hub in Freo as a way to connect people and get people pedalling.
Pretty soon, the BikeRescue program was born. Youth workers mentoring young people through bike mechanics. They operated on volunteer power out of a sea-container on the Esplanade, but pretty quickly realised that a permanent space was needed to multiply their impactful model of youth work.
Winning the Impact100 Fremantle’s grant in 2013 meant BikeRescue launched across the metro area creating a new trajectory of growth and innovation that has contributed to Dismantle being the amazing organisation it is today. As Dismantle says, “We’re offering struggling young people a hand-up, rather than a hand-out.”
You might like to spend a minute or two watching this great Dismantle story video.
The BikeRescue program has now reached more than 2000 disengaged students throughout Perth and regional WA, connecting them with school through youth work and hands-on bicycle mechanic activities. That’s 60,000 hours of mentoring and 3000 bikes diverted from landfill, lovingly restored with a custom paint job and ridden home by a disadvantaged teenager.
In response to the needs that BikeRescue was identifying, Dismantle then launched ReNew Property Maintenance – their gardening and landscaping business – which has helped more than 100 at-risk young people into the workforce and paid more than $1M into their pockets in wages. This opportunity provides young people with a job and wrap-around support to stay employed.
ReNew trains youth up in how to use the tools but also in how to be an employee, so that they feel ready to take the next step with a new job after a year in the program. Developing a number of employees’ transitioning successfully into the workforce, and heartwarming turnaround success stories.
Dismantle say that the award of the Impact100 Fremantle grant of $100,000.00 “was an injection of confidence and funding that launched Dismantle to where it has come to today – a leader in the WA social impact ecosystem with big dreams to keep changing lives of young Western Australians.”
To help other Freo connected nfp organisations realise their full potential, become an Impact100 Freo donor today!
Joining Impact100 Fremantle is easy. For more info, and how to donate, head here!
And if you’d like to see more Shipping News stories on Impact100 Fremantle, look here.
You can see why Impact 100 Fremantle’s mantra is Together we can do more!
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