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Hi, my name is Ben Newton, I’m 21 years old, a resident of Calgary since 2018 and I currently work at Two Wheel View as a teacher for the Gap program. I started out at Two Wheel View as a Gap student back in October 2023, I wasn't sure what to expect from the organization, but as the weeks progressed I felt more and more that it was more than just a mechanics program, it was a safe place to hang out with friends, a class on budgeting, a lesson on workers rights and self advocacy and so many other things that out of the dozens of past students, each of them could give you a different description of the program.

After I had graduated, I stuck around the organization for a little bit, and in April I was asked to come back for 6 months as a mechanic in the back shop. I spent that time honing my skills and getting to know the rest of the Two Wheel View staff members. Some like me were previous Gap students, one amazingly kind student who got into art school through the program and another who became an incredibly skilled mechanic works tirelessly on our earn-a-bikes, all of whom helped immensely with my own journey of growth with the organization.

So, when I was asked if I wanted to be the new Gap teacher, I was more than happy to fill the role, it was an opportunity to give back to the organization that had treated me with such respect and patience over the past year.

Currently, as I’m writing this, we are wrapping up our 7th week of the program (Fall 2024) co-hort, we have completed repairing the bikes we plan on donating to avenue 15, the program as a whole has 160 bikes ready to send out to kids in our Earn-a-Bike program and we have over 1,800 bikes donated this year.

It has been everything I hoped for and more. The students have all shown incredible growth in not only their mechanical skills, but their social skills as well. The Gap program has helped them and me advance in ways we previously thought unachievable. When writing a script, sincerity can be hard to communicate and hyperbole is easy ,but we live in a time laid with uncertainty and many youth feel lost or unwelcome in this world, so when I say that this program is life changing, I mean it whole heartedly, as I’ve seen it first hand, and every single Gap alumni I've talked to tonight 100% agree.

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When I talked to just a few of my students and previous Gap participants about their time at Gap, their sincerity and passion cannot be overstated. Here is what Gap alumni and the teachers have to say about the program:

“A more positive outlook on how the job environment can be, opened my eyes to the fact it’s not always terrible, and the vibes of this place are amazing”

“I gained a lot from the program, not only bike mechanics but I gained a lot of friends, I’m really appreciative of that”

“Before coming to Gap I was in a bad place looking for jobs and socializing, Gap opened up the doors to improving that for me, and I still have a community after graduation”

“I’ve gained networking opportunities and mechanical skills to help me in other fields”

“Gap gave me a great understanding of mechanics, social skills and the greater job market, made me feel more important”

“I’d say that the experience I gained from this program has been monumental in a way where I developed new practical and necessary skills I hope to develop in the future,Chad (the head program facilitator) has set up an amazing experience for me”

“I got to learn some awesome new skills. I can repair a derailleur like magic now”

“Building up my confidence on myself, gave me what I needed to live my life”

“The thing that benefited me the most was that I stopped breaking stuff on my bike so often, but more seriously we learned about how the job world could be better instead of just settling for how things are, workers rights and all you know? I really liked that stuff”

“For me it was meeting everyone, my whole life it was hard to meet people and socialize for some reason, but it was really great to make connections in the program”

“It’s a good opportunity to learn how to learn, and opens up amazing doors for us”

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And 2 staff members I asked said:

“It’s been great watching young people grow in just the 2 short months we have with them”

“People tend to put down the younger generation, facilitating the Gap program constantly reminds me how rad they all are, I will never let this generation be put down”

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