Roundtables are one of QCEWS’s unique twists on organizing our community work. Each Roundtable begins with an idea and two or more people who are willing to champion this idea. Most of QCEWS community work happens through its Roundtables. Each Roundtable has its own lead/leaders and its own mission which compliments the QCEWS mission. [See the attachment for “Roles and responsibilities for QCEWS leaders/chairs.”] New members are encouraged to join an existing roundtable, to work on establishing a new roundtable or to otherwise contribute to the operation of QCEWS. The following are a list of current Roundtables and the things they aspire to accomplish.

ELCCO supports the development of Affordable, Accessible, and Quality Not-for-Profit Child Care in Oceanside. Membership consists of a liaison representative from: RDN, City of Parksville, Town of Qualicum Beach, Qualicum First Nation and School District 69; Early Learning and Child Care Organizations; and Child-care advocates and Families. The Council works at the neighbourhood level to build a democratic childcare system, based on research and expertise of Childcare Coalition of BC and Early Childhood Educators of BC. Successes of 2019-2020 include: Shared and supported the application process for BC Provincial funding “Child Care Needs Assessment.” Currently the group supports the ongoing data collection informing immediate and long-term decision making of childcare services and infrastructure development. This is a collaborative project with the communities of Lantzville, Nanaimo, and surrounding Regional Districts. Supported the application process for Child Care Space Creation Funding, to ensure the Oceanside community increases publicly owned childcare space. Building collaborative relationships and community resources, to support the ongoing development of publicly funded childcare in the Oceanside community. Encouraging community engagement by building alliances with families, maintained through email contact. Families are kept informed of the work of ELCCO and respond to “Calls for Action” when needed. ELCCO recognizes the need to support well-trained childcare workforce and supports initiative’s that address this challenge. Early Learning & Child Care Council is an action-orientated group that pulls together resources and expertise to meet the childcare community needs and move the universal childcare system forward. Children and their families need community support to grow future leaders.

Over the years the Intergenerational roundtable action team has participated in many activities in the community that have encouraged connection between children and seniors. The key to the success of the QCEWS intergenerational programs is that people young and old, are given an opportunity to try something new in good company and have fun doing it. We learn from each other. Learning builds trust, acceptance and caring which is what we all want in an intergenerational community.

Our Vision Is to have universal solutions on access and quality of life for all in Qualicum Beach. Our mission is to work together with The Town of Qualicum Beach, its residents and other community organizations to increase awareness of accessibility needs (physical, emotional, social and mental health). Our Goals are: To provide education, advocacy and action projects to reduce or eliminate barriers to participating in daily life in Qualicum Beach. To support people of all abilities to work, play, live and go to school in QB. To welcome visitors/tourists by providing accessible options to stay, shop and play in QB.

Loneliness is a well documented threat to our well being and as a community we can do something about it. This Roundtable has organized a drop in, pop up, conversation nook which has appeared at the beach front and downtown Qualicum Beach. Each pop up event makes passerby’s aware of the issue of loneliness. Conversation nook hosts experience warm, even inspirational conversations. All that is required of a host is to be open to whatever the guest wants to talk about. If you would like to participate as a conversation host you can use our pop up shelter, coffee carafe, and signs. Also, the roundtable lead has been speaking with neighbourhood organizations, community groups and individuals to see if there is interest in organizing a broad-based community collaboration to set up neighbourhood networks which can help ensure everyone is connected. Such networks can help ensure everyone has access to basic necessities and essential services. In 2022 the Social Connections Roundtable collaborated with the I’d Love to Talk lady from Parksville to host a successful conversation nook at the Qualicum Beach Family Day in May 2023.

The QCEWS Community Wellness Table is set up with a cross section of health and wellness practitioners, with the goal of assisting everyone in the community to reach their full potential. This Roundtable, under the leadership of Dr. Bob Rowe, worked on a collaborative model of delivering health and wellness care services in the community, which is anticipated to be more effective and economical. The community wellness roundtable became more focused on working with Qualicum Questers in 2018. Qualicum Questers are alternate health practitioners in Oceanside who gather to discuss health and healing as well as explore specific techniques of interest. They are part of the Community Wellness Roundtable. They have posted several videos on You Tube. The videos can be found at www.qualicumquesters.com.

Over the years the Intergenerational table has carried out many activities in the community that have encouraged connection between children and seniors. This roundtable has organized Family Soccer Fridays, children’s visits to Long tern Care facilities and the Kids in the Kitchen program. These have all been simple events that build pathways for communication, understanding and appreciation events.

This Roundtable features projects that enhance the quality our food and support growing methods that can be easily incorporated at home in our daily lives. Past projects include: Root Bag, Hydroponics general interest classes, Hydroponics in schools.

The communications Roundtable records some important QCEWS events and items of interest to community residents and posts the recordings on info@QCEWS.com or on the QCEWS page on Facebook. QCEWS web presence is now part of this team’s work. The communications roundtable supports the work of the individual roundtables and as such participates in the Organizational Development team

This roundtable is presently under construction. QCEWS intends to increase its capacity to assist individuals and groups in our communities with a centralized bookkeeping, network contacts, web presence, and fund raising support. We need people with experience in these matters to grow an effective incubator function within QCEWS.