Ladies, there's hope yet...

No one wants to donate a substantial amount of real cash to a bunch of crusties with rich parents who want to live out some kind of "hardcore" lifestyle pootling about the streets on a bicycle and failing to get a *real *job.

Um, do I even have to say that I know alot of couriers who actually use this job to help support THEIR parents? Or would that invoke an "all these foriegners coming over here and stealing our jobs" sorta rant?

I actually can't think of a single courier that I know who was well off growing up. I know I do this job because I love my bike and am actually not qualified to do anything else, so when I get knocked off by a lorry I won't be being supported by my dad (un-employed) or my mom (night nurse at a prison, but off sick due to cycling related injury (She snapped the tendon in her thumb when she fell off, jesus, can you belive that? Speaking of feeling bad for encouraging people to cycle)).

Anyways, there are alot of really fantastic charities to give to, the LCEF is one of them.
There is also oxford cycle workshop, technically a business but they don't really make any money and they do sell re-stored bikes really really cheaply and teach people how to fix their own bikes for nearly nothing.

If you don't mind money going to an American org than there are a few places that fix a load of bikes and send them to rural Mexico or Ghana. I think the Mexican one is Bike not Bombs, and the one in Ghana is run by Bike Fix, who I used to volunteer for in Seattle.

I've had things happen to me before with boys I really liked but didn't want to be involved with, it is both touching and hard, good luck with him. He sounds like a keeper, but don't try and make yourself have feelings you don't have.