Newcomer Bike Mentorship Program How-To Guide
The Benefits of Providing Newcomer Bike Mentorships
The Newcomer Bike Mentorship Program model is intended to provide immigrant and refugee participants with a range of positive outcomes, including improved physical and mental health, new social connections, increased knowledge of safe cycling skills and local cycling infrastructure, and a range of other physical, social and economic benefits.
The Program organizes and supports mentor-mentee relationships between recently arrived newcomers and local urban cycling enthusiasts, so they can meet weekly for cycling related activities. These match profiles below explain the benefits of the program from the perspectives of participants and mentors.
- Ulyana and Lucy - cycling through Metro Vancouver and into Go by Bike Week | Version Française
- Jerrick and Razieh - cycling over bridges and through the Tri-Cities | Featured in the Tri-City News! | Version Française
- Dan, Lili, and Francis - a friendship for life on the East Coast | Version Française
Program Delivery Models
The Newcomer Bike Mentorship Programs follows a common general model, but through this pilot it was delivered with different dynamics across the three urban region locations.
Through this “how-to” manual, we describe the general model and some options for how it may be delivered. The program can be offered by a single organization, or by two organizations working in partnership. For example:
- A settlement services organization working independently that has internal expertise and capacities to delivery cycling-based activities.
- An environmental and/or cycling organization, working independently, but enlisting the assistance of a local settlement services provider to aid with newcomer participant recruitment and communication.
- An environmental and/or cycling organization and a settlement services provider working together as partners, with the former primarily responsible for recruiting volunteer mentors and organizing cycling activities, and the latter responsible for recruiting and communicating with newcomers.
Program Delivery Manual
Program staff from the four organizations that delivered the Newcomer Bike Mentorship Program from 2021-23 with the Public Health Agency of Canada's financial support have compiled a comprehensive how-to manual for program delivery.
This document contains all the information potential service providers would need to offer a newcomer bike mentorship program in their city/municipality/region.
NOTE: While this manual does provide a basic budget template, it does not address how potential service providers may obtain program funding.
Please click here to view the full manual (version française).
Program Delivery Resources
These downloadable PDFs may be of use to potential program service providers:
- Newcomer Bike Mentor Program Volunteer Application Form
- New Volunteer Interview Form
- Returning Volunteer Interview Form
- Newcomer Interview Form
- Criminal Record Check Request Letter
- Newcomer Bike Mentorship Volunteer Agreement
- Newcomer Bike Mentorship Program - Sample Budget Outline
Program Evaluation
The Newcomer Bike Mentorship Program, as delivered from 2021-23, was a pilot program assessed by an external academic evaluator to identify the program's impacts on participants’ mental and physical health and their sense of belonging.
A summary of the evaluation findings can be found here.
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