Creating Community With Our Newest Calgarians!
Last week, we had the pleasure of working with the Youth Program at The Centre For Newcomers. Students aged from 8-16 learned the freedom a bike can offer them in the city no matter what age. After a few days learning basic safety and bike skills in a safe environment, they were ready to hit the pathways and in the mature student groups, the road! Thanks to funding provided by The Alberta Bicycle Association, we were able to provide 44 students with a unique summer experience they won’t soon forget.
Just like with our school programming, we start by delivering bikes, helmets and all the essentials needed. The space needed is cordoned off to create a traffic-free environment where they can learn distraction-free. As the youth arrive, we find out that while all but one has ridden a bike before, only a few have ever worn a helmet. Once everyone understands the basics of how to fit a helmet properly, we are ready to begin fitting bikes to everyone in attendance. We learn that many have bikes at home, but most are no longer the correct size or are not working correctly. This is a concern for youth across the city and is the driving force behind both the Kids Bike Trade Up and our Bike Hub Community Shop.
After a quick chat about bike safety, we begin a series of games designed to assess each participants skill level. We find that all of them are extremely competent on a bike and begin working on a variety of bike skills, from braking to changing gears to following instructions. The ever popular rope game never fails to invoke smiles and laughter. Gamification is the universal language to impart new skills and refine others, and these youth from a variety of backgrounds were up for the challenge.
All groups have successfully passed our risk assessment and it is time to escape the safety of the parking lot and have some community fun. The youngest members head to Fonda Park, which includes a mini-skate park, some decent hills and a closed-loop pathway they can test their newfound knowledge on. The two older groups head to Big Marlborough Park using only bike route marked roadways. This shows them how accessible the entire city can be by bike, and most cannot believe the distance they travelled in such a short time.
On the last day of the program, we had the groups explore basic maintenance of their bikes including minor repairs on the “broken bikes” they brought from home. We almost felt like some of them had been missing school, they were so quick to raise their hand to handle a wrench! A lesson on way finding and how to change a bike tire tube, and these newcomers are now ready to spend the summer biking!
Akberet Ande, the Centre for Newcomers Youth & Family Facilitator says : “The cycling program provided youth with an opportunity to learn a new skill, build confidence, and engage in healthy physical activity. Many participants experienced cycling for the first time, and the program encouraged teamwork, independence, and a sense of achievement while exploring active transportation in a fun and supportive environment.”
Of course, if you don’t have a bike, you can’t ride anywhere. Access to bikes is difficult for all communities, but especially for individuals new to Canada. For any of the group that needed a bike, we were able to provide one. Happy trails to everyone that participated in the Youth en Route Cycling Program! Contact us if you are interested in arranging similar programming for your community.
