The Rotary Club of Katoomba has moved into the 21st Century with an innovative fundraising idea and to raise interest.

Article by PP Phil Hammon

As a Centenary Project for 2005, Tom Colless a member of the Rotary Club of Katoomba, donated a five-sculpture group as a memorial to the Convict Road builders who first pushed a road across the Blue Mountains in 1814. The statues are one and a half times life size and are located in Lilianfels Park near Echo Point in Katoomba.

The statues have been standing there ever since, raising only a little interest in Katoomba Rotary.

With the rise of familiarity with QR codes brought to us by COVID, PP Phil Hammon worked with the Blue Mountains Historical Society and Bad Dog Productions of Lawson to set up a series of Audio snatches, bringing the statues to life with their own stories of how it is that they are working on the road, to raise the profile of Rotary and increase knowledge of the hardships of Convict Road builders.

There are a series of six ceramic tiles, being the most vandal proof, and fade resistant option available, containing the QR code and a sketch of the relevant sculpture. There are also codes for Tom Colless the original benefactor, Terrance Plowright the sculptor and some bush poems by Greg North.

The two convicts, George Colless and Paddy Leonard, tell of their experiences in arriving at their current situation and Oliver Trump the Trooper tells his tale of woe. Each of these stories finish with an appeal for a donation to Katoomba Rotary. The ap to which one is directed to play the audio files has a donate button, which works through PayPal.

The QR code, of course, can be used by anybody anywhere, as you will see if you click on the above code. We are planning to have access points in the Big Red Bus that drives past the statues every 20 minutes, in local businesses, and the premises of our Katoomba Rotary Members.

Any funds that we raise will be used for our ongoing projects of Breakfast for North Katoomba Primary School, Swimming Classes for disadvantaged students, end of year prizegiving for all the area’s schools, and when COVID is gone, we will resume our longstanding commitment to International Student Exchange in which we have been participating for 20 years.

As the funds become available, the option exists to make the statues alive with augmented reality, whereby one points one’s phone at the statue and his head becomes animated and he tells you his story. 

If you would like advice on how to set up a system for a project you may have in mind, please contact Phil at secretary@katoombarotary.com and he will tell you of the pitfalls to avoid!