Age Friendly Community Recreation Project

In the spring of 2020, the online inventory of recreation assets (facilities/amenities/clubs/groups) map was launched and can be found here on the RDN Website.

COVID-19 has impacted all organizations offering recreation opportunities in Oceanside, however the online inventory is still an effective way of getting information and updates about what is available. With the uncertainty and complications associated with COVID-19 we have had to delay work on the other recommendations outlined in the final report. We look forward to moving ahead and working with our community partners when we are all able. RDN Recreation and Parks is committed to helping the community move forward after the pandemic and this report and map will be a great starting point.

On January 25, 2021, this project will be archived and will no longer be updated. In spring 2021, more information will come available on the RDN Website regarding the Oceanside Recreation Forums with a focus on how we can move together as a community to continue to support the diverse recreation opportunities in Oceanside.

The final RDN Oceanside Older Adult Recreation Assessment and Mapping Report is now available. See the full report in the Background Documents on the right hand side of the page.

The Final Report for the Oceanside Older Adult Recreation Assessment and Mapping project is now complete and will be available for public viewing shortly. Here are a few details that you may find interesting as a sneak peek:

• There were a total of 192 programs being offered at the time of the research
• 145 of the programs had no age restriction while 47 were only for those 50yrs+
• There were 48 host organizations listed
• Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings have the most program opportunities
• Weekday evenings and weekends have very few scheduled opportunities

There are 8 recommendations in the report, including launching the online mapping tool that will provide information on all of the recreation opportunities in Oceanside for those 50yrs+. This map is currently in development and we hope to launch it publicly by the Summer of 2020.

At this time we would like to thank our dedicated working group volunteers for their service and valuable feedback throughout this entire project. It certainly was a key to the success and we look forward to connecting with them and other members of the community as we move ahead on the recommendations.

The data has been gathered and is now be prepared for the mapping portion of the project. Some interesting findings are coming to light, there is a diverse range of activities, there are opportunities for those who are over and under 55 years, and there are a number of low cost and free programs.

In this next stage we will be identifying some of the gaps, trends and suggestions for future planning. Stay tuned as we will have more information mid December.

Our first working group meeting was on May 28th - thank you to our volunteers. Over the next few weeks they will be busy gathering inventory data on local recreation programs and inputting it into a central database which will ultimately inform an interactive map available to the public.

If you are involved with a group that provides recreation services within the Oceanside area and want to be sure to be included please contact us as we want to make sure the final product is as complete as possible.

The inspiration for this project came from the 2018 RDN District 69 Recreation Services Master Plan which included

Recommendation #17- The development of the Older Adult/Age Friendly strategy. According to the 2016 census, the residents in Oceanside 50 years old or better, make up 64.4% of the population.There are a diverse range of recreation opportunities in the Oceanside area for people 50 years plus and many of the organizations offering these opportunities are run independently.

Recommendation #4 & 7 - Strengthening the network between the organizations and supporting their work to meet the growing demand.

The RDN Recreation and Parks Department received funding for this project through the 2019 UBCM Age Friendly Communities Grant.