Rapha has launched its ‘Rapha Foundation’, a new initiative set to give US$750,000 back to the grassroots of cycling. Announced today, the new charitable foundation will look ‘to build a better future for the sport of cycling by inspiring, empowering and supporting the next generation of racers.’
Annually, Rapha will provide the direct funding to five individual non-profit organisations with the wider ambition of introducing different audiences into the world of cycling, whether that be through guiding youngsters through their first ever race or just simply getting people on bikes.
The fund will initially be focused on the United States but will eventually be introduced to five further charities in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the United Kingdom by November, with information on how to apply for the foundation set to follow soon.
Talking on the new initiative, Rapha CEO Simon Mottram hopes the work will help expand cycling’s impact worldwide.
‘Supporting the most important grassroots causes in cycling has been a long-standing dream at Rapha,' he explained. 'I’m confident the Rapha Foundation will have a huge impact and further our goal of making cycling the most popular sport in the world.’
Mottram, alongside major brand shareholders Tom and Steuart Walton, have provided the initial funding for the foundation with the latter two providing a $1.5m seed fund to kickstart the project for 2019.
The first five charities to be helped in the USA include a mixture of cycling clubs and existing communities across the country that all aspire to develop the youth into riding bikes.
The foundation comes as a direct consequence of Rapha’s own Roadmap, launched earlier this year, an extensive report that dissected the state of professional cycling, ‘the shop window of the sport’, and how it could be made more exciting and accessible.
Beyond the charitable foundation, the roadmap also recommended a new approach to cycling team sponsorship which it has been executing this year with its work with WorldTour men’s team Education First.