Driven by a passion for LEGO, Graham Draper leads Gonglug and Playwell Events, creating outstanding displays and raising money for charities through their LEGO shows.
Gonglug is an Illawarra-based charity organisation founded in 2019 by a group of local adult LEGO enthusiasts. They collaborate with charities and host four shows a year, including April's Annual Illawarra Brick Show.
Over eight years, that event has raised $200,000 – two years under the Sydney LEGO group and six years under Gonglug – with help from KidsWish.
KidsWish stakeholder engagement and fundraiser manager Emily Wright provides volunteers and promotional assistance, and Kids Wish receives 100% of the profits. This year's show helped to raise $43,000.
“We get the money, we buy cash donations, we buy LEGOs,” said Graham, the founder of Gonglug and Playwell Events.
“We put it back into the local economy and that’s something I’m really passionate about.”
The Gonglug shows give people a chance to fully immerse themselves in the world of LEGO, including LEGO play tables, LEGO mosaic building and LEGO R/C car racing activities. At 2024's Illawarra Brick Show, they hosted a celebrity brick battle, where local sporting celebrities, a junior LEGO builder and a LEGO master teamed up to see who could build the best project.
Along with his registered business, Playwell Events – a touring LEGO exhibit around NSW and Victoria that he founded in 2022 – Graham has turned his passion into a career.
“During Covid, I got to build a lot of LEGOs and I thought, 'I'm gonna make this work for me',” Graham said.
“So, it's been two and a half years now and I went full-time with it.”
Like many LEGO lovers, Graham's passion began in childhood. In 2013, his wife gave him an Architecture LEGO set featuring iconic buildings from around the world. Realising he wanted to build more of these, Graham joined the LEGO community, discovering a shared passion that ultimately inspired his career.
When visiting Graham’s office, I saw impressive LEGO models of Ghostbusters and a building made by someone in Germany. Intrigued, I asked about his crowning achievement. That's when he showed me a photo of his model of the Interlace Building, an apartment complex in Singapore, that took him 12 months and about 85,000 LEGO pieces to make.
Graham no longer has the time to dedicate 12 months to a single project, opting for smaller pieces instead. However, just like his larger projects, these smaller creations require a unique focus and precision to perfect.
“There is a lot of repetition, they’re not always enjoyable but the end result is quite nice,” Graham said.
Graham’s LEGO skills have not gone unnoticed: he was invited to join the background team to work on the TV series LEGO Masters Australia, a show in which contestants compete in teams to build LEGO projects. As part of the background team, Graham helped build the many props for the show, including the famous Hero pieces.
“You're not allowed to go on the show if you work on the show and I had no hesitation signing that,” said Graham.
“I love working behind the show, working alongside other really good builders.
“These are guys that I look up to, I learn a lot of different stuff and made a lot of contacts.”
Playwell Events has upcoming exhibitions scheduled in various locations, including Moss Vale on August 10, with more to follow.
For Wollongong locals, Gonglug will host its annual Christmas Fundraiser from October 7-10. This year's event will be at Fairy Meadow's Fraternity Club, which has generously offered the venue for free. Money raised will go to the Supported Accommodation and Homelessness Services Shoalhaven Illawarra (SAHSSI), as it has for the past three years.
“That’s my passion,” Graham said.
“My business is my business, I’m happy doing what I do there, but I'm really trying to build these local shows.”
For more information on Gonglug and Playwell Events, as well as updates on upcoming shows, visit their Facebook pages.
