Prodigal Bikes has been awarded their first charity grant through a grant matching platform, Brevio.

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Prodigal Bikes collects unwanted mountain bikes from the South Somerset, East

Devon and West Dorset area, refurbishes and upgrades them, and sends them to remote areas of Africa. The refurbished bikes are used to help those in the community gain access to education, employment, trade and healthcare, which is often found only a long walk away. For example, children cycling to school are more able to focus on learning as they no longer arrive late and exhausted from a long daily walk.

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Prodigal Bikes also supports the local community in Somerset. The non-profit works with people in South Somerset who come from backgrounds in offending, homelessness, long term unemployment, special needs and exclusion from school. Prodigal Bikes teaches basic engineering skills as they refurbish the bikes together, before sending them to Africa. Finding an interest in working with their hands can be the first step towards further training and employment and away from reoffending, helping to build a more self-sustaining and fulfilling life.

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In July, Prodigal Bikes signed up to Brevio to find funding for their latest project.

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Brevio is an award winning B Corp and UK Social Enterprise which aims to change the way non-profit organisations research and apply for grants, to build a more efficient system for everyone.

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Brevio’s mission is to unite non-profits and funders to grow together and create more impact on society. Brevio simplifies grant research, grant application and grant management to free up hundreds of millions of pounds lost to administration every year.

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“The bottom line for UK-based charities is that they are always hard-pressed for time. We cannot afford to waste many hours on fruitless pursuits for funding. Having reliable, well connected databases such as Brevio, that regularly ping us genuinely viable funding leads is a big thing for us.”, said Anthony Raybould, Founder of Prodigal Bikes. “There are many existing trusts and foundations, but some are so elusive we would never find them without help from Brevio. There are some organisations who claim to connect you with funders but actually have very few meaningful leads, and often charge charities for the services they provide. Brevio is free, easy to use, time efficient and effective.”

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“The funding received through Brevio will go a long way towards helping the cause. We expect several hundred people to benefit through the education they will receive,

and the access to trade and employment they will gain”.

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This August Prodigal Bikes are dispatching a 20ft container to western Kenya, packed with bikes and trailers as well as the tools for teaching woodwork, construction, automotive engineering and dressmaking. The funding that Prodigal Bikes has received by using Brevio will pay for a large part of the shipping costs.

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Prodigal Bikes are now starting to prepare a 350 bike shipment to schools in

Tanzania next year. “We are planning on adding this project, as our new live funding need, onto Brevio and we are really looking forward to seeing some leads for funding this”, added Anthony.

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