Charlie's Freewheels
Charlies FreeWheels was conceived in memory of a friend whose life was tragically cut short when he was struck by a car while following his passion to bike from San Diego to Toronto in the summer of 2007. The CPI aims to support creative and environmentally sustainable initiatives that we think Charlie would have been proud of to create positive change in the Toronto community.
Our curriculum takes takes 10 youth participants from the Regent Park community through the process of learning basic bicycle mechanics and safety by assembling their own bike. Through a combination of hands-on practice, cooperative work, discussion and mentoring, the program’s participants will focus on the repair of one bicycle each that, upon the project’s completion, will belong to him or her.
At the heart of the initiative is a belief in the abilities of young people to be creators, leaders, and to have a strong voice in their communities. As this project emphasizes youth leadership and capacity building, our goal is to help our participants bring the knowledge learned in our program back to their community, and to share it with their peers to encourage a sustainable, long term vision for future projects..
Charlie’s FreeWheels began its 7-week pilot phase on July 15, 2009. The pilot ran successfully through the summer in association with existing local community organizations and bicycle repair facilities. The next FreeWheels session begins February 2010.