While the region has a significant senior population, residents of all ages seek opportunities for meaningful intellectual engagement without needing to travel to larger urban centres.

Here is a small barrier with big consequences. If you cannot read the slides, you cannot follow the talk.
TOSH Talks brings artists, curators and historians into conversation with the public 8 to 12 times a year. Attendance keeps growing. But audience members, especially seniors and people with low vision, kept saying the same thing. They could not see it.

Trillium Lodge long-term care residents are the pioneers of the Oceanside community and were once a vibrant part of what makes the Oceanside area so special.

The residents of Trillium Lodge built this community. Then their health changed, they moved into care, and the community slowly stopped seeing them.

Trillium Community Garden Day is a fix for exactly that. One day. Bring a donated plant. Plant it in a raised bed alongside a resident. Paint a fairy door. Stay for the barbecue.

The grant supported a public program entitled "A Celebration of the Trees of Qualicum Beach," a collaborative effort between the Qualicum Beach Museum and the Friends of the Qualicum Beach Forest. The total project budget was $4,250, comprising the $3,500 PQCF grant and a $750 contribution from the Qualicum Beach Museum, with final expenditures coming in $15.67 under budget.

Funds were used to develop and mount a museum exhibition about trees, their importance in daily life and their significance to First Nations. Featuring artefacts, historical photographs, and explanatory text. The program launched during B.C. National Forest Week (September 21–27, 2025) and ran September 19 through November 22, 2025. It included a youth and adult photography competition, with winning photographs professionally framed and displayed throughout the exhibit before being awarded to the photographers. All submissions were compiled into a commemorative book shared with local educators and libraries.

The grant funding supported our Oceanside Cooking Club class held on March 2, 2026, at the Dashwood Community Hall. The funds were used to cover the costs of ingredients and supplies needed to prepare the evening's menu: Fresh Salad Rolls with Peanut Sauce, Udon Noodle Soup, Coconut Rice Pudding, and Chocolate Tofu Peanut Butter Pudding with Raspberries. We had 35 community members in attendance.

The Small Neighbourhood Grants funding was used to purchase quilting supplies, specifically batting and flannel fabric for the backing of our quilts. These materials are our primary ongoing expense, as we are fortunate to receive fabric donations from the community but mainly rely on grant funding to cover these essentials.

With these supplies, our group of seven volunteers created handmade quilts that were donated to children in need.

Thanks to a Neighbourhood Small Grant from the Parksville-Qualicum Community Foundation, we were able to start what we hope becomes a new neighbourhood tradition—a Luminary Walk on Christmas Eve! It was an amazing opportunity to immerse ourselves in the community of Hermitage Park and share holiday spirit and a magical evening with our neighbours.

My family assembled 120 luminary kits, each including supplies for residents to put out luminaries. After neighbours received their kits, our newly created Facebook group lit up with even more enthusiasm!

Thank you so much for the grant for our sign at Nanoose Place Community Centre.

This project prompted us to go through a branding process, and was a major step forward for us as an organization.

We feel much more confident and focused on our brand and identity in the community because of this new signage—and we are extremely proud of it!

Without your generosity we would not be where we are today. Thank you!

I wanted to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude for the NSG grant, which will play a crucial role in making our joint vision of community inclusion and connection a reality. Thanks to your generous support, we secured kitchen space at The Bradley Centre, at no cost, for our first official Oceanside Cooking Club class on January 18th. This was also made possible by a generous donation from the PQ Community Foundation! Thank you for making this possible!

The response to our free Cooking Club class has been overwhelming!

I am writing to express our heartfelt thanks for supporting the Repair Café Oceanside held on April 20, 2024. Our Repair Café was a tremendous success! Organizing the first event of its kind in Parksville-Qualicum Beach, we expected perhaps fifty people to attend. To our surprise and great joy, 126 people showed up with their treasured items for repair. We had to print extra registration forms in the middle of the event.