History of the Leura Gardens Festival
The Leura Gardens Festival is a registered charity, the objective of which is to provide funds for medical equipment and patient care at the Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital.
Management of the Festival is in the hands of a voluntary committee currently chaired by Mr Bret Lord and supported during the Festival by around 200 volunteers from the local community.
The Festival was founded in 1965 when four gardens were opened in October and $900 was raised. Over the following 21 years the number of gardens participating increased and the Festival was extended to nine days, covering two weekends and the intervening weekdays. Additional attractions are now also offered to visitors, including pottery and music in several gardens.
In the first 21 years of the Festival over $250,000 was raised and used to purchase hospital medical equipment and to improve hospital amenities. In the following 7 years between 1986 and 1993 a further $500,000 was raised. This money was spent to equip and furnish a high-dependency unit and two palliative care suites.
Between 1993 and 2001 the committee paid much of the cost of the new paediatric unit and paid for new endoscopic equipment, a state-of-the-art anaesthetic machine complete with monitoring units, a gastroscope and other invaluable equipment. Other purchases in these years included stress testing equipment, a ventilator for the high-dependency unit, a retinal camera and physiotherapy equipment, in all amounting to several hundred thousand dollars.
In 2002 the Festival purchased telemetric monitoring equipment, enabling patients to walk around the hospital having their vital signs monitored without being hooked up to cables.
In 2003 the Festival purchased a high-resolution screen monitor for the virtual critical care unit. This enables staff at Katoomba to consult with their colleagues at Nepean teaching hospital. The link immediately conveys high quality pictures, sounds and data allowing speed diagnosis and treatment.
In 2004 thirty electric beds were purchased, increasing the independence and comfort of patients by allowing adjustments by way of finger controls. The beds also save nurses' backs when lifting patients.
In 2005/6 money was spent on the refurbishment of the East Wing and a range of general equipment including portable vital signs monitors, wheelchairs, a labour ward bed and space lab monitors.
Between 2007 and 2009, a total of $247,000 was spent on a wide range of equipment, and towards the cost of the relocation of the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Chronic Airways departments of the hospital. Equipment purchased included resuscitation beds, a cardiotocograph, spacelab monitors, a labour ward bed, wheelchairs, and a paediatric cot.
In 2009 a donation of $6,690 was also made to the Blue Mountains Cancer Help to fund advanced training for physiotherapy staff.
In 2010 the Festival committee approved a total expenditure of $110,000 on a range of items identified as priority items by the hospital. Principal items included four cardiac monitors, a video laryngoscope, a foetal monitor and two electric beds.
In 2011, a donation of nearly $96,000 was made to the hospital for the purchase of medical equipment for physiotherapy, education, the east wing, the operating theatres and the A&E department. In addition, three local health-related charities each received $3,000. They were, Blue Mountains Health Trust, Can Assist and Blue Mountains Cancer Help.
In excess of $100,000 was raised during Festival 2012, most of which assisted in the purchase of medical equipment for the hospital. In keeping with Festival policy to assist other Blue Mountains Health related charities, donations were also made to The Blue Mountains Health Trust and Cancer Help.
In 2013, once again over $100,000 was raised and equipment purchased from festival funds included a humidicrib; special beds and a bed mover; significant upgrades to the cardiac and respiratory rehabilitation unit; and ECG equipment.
2014 – the Festival’s 50th anniversary year – was an amazing success, with around $150,000 made available to the hospital.
Since 2015 Festival funds have been used for the completion of a dual-purpose space for patients and family/visitors in the East Wing with equipment including the most up-to-date beds and recliners. Most recently the Festival has contributed to the completion of a 5 room out-patient clinic (to be known as the Leura Gardens Festival Outpatient Centre) which has freed up space in the Emergency Department, the purchase of an ultrasound machine, a lung function box and a coloposcope for gynaecology.
Funds from recent Festivals have been allocated to a much needed upgrade of the Allied Health Therapy Centre, which provides valuable rehabilitation services for both patient and outpatients, the installation of a pneumatic tube system between the Emergency Department and Pathology to enable the much faster processing of blood tests, and a sensory projector for the sensory room project for patients with dementia. Funds were also provided for building works and equipment for the Outpatient Therapy Centre as well as computer generated artwork for the new Renal Dialysis Unit.
IIn addition to the Hospital, the Festival continues to support a number of other health related organisations based in the Blue Mountains. See funding for charities for more information.
