Coming soon to Invercargill’s ILT stadium is the Southland Brickshow, a massive Lego showcase run by Lego Users Group South Charitable Trust (Lug South).

Founder Gavin Evans started the group in 2014 before being officially recognised in 2015 and said its main purpose was to “bring our love of Lego to the community in order to help unwell children”.

“It’s all about Lego fans coming together and creating amazing displays, sometimes individually and sometimes as family groups.”

Lug South was a partner with local children’s charities such as Life Education and Ronald McDonald House, he said.

“Our mandate is very broad, deliberately chosen so that we can help in mental and physical health.”

His group has bricks at Southland, Dunedin and Gore hospitals,  the Loss and Grief Centre and Hospice Southland.

“Wherever there are kids that are either unwell or encountering people that are unwell, so they can enjoy the power of play and have a bit of fun on the way to recovery.”

The group was initially started by a man who hired the Gore town hall, bringing together seven people including Mr Evans and filling it with Lego.

“We had people lined up at the doors and families who were putting off duck-shooting to come and have a look, we knew we were on to something special.”

After that inital event, Lug South was formed and went from “strength to strength over the years”.

“Just partnering with the community, doing stuff that make our members smile, that make the public smile . . . it’s great fun and you get to do something that you love.”

He also highlighted the  benefits he and other  members had found through collecting and building Lego as adults.

“There’s such a wide variety of ways of enjoying the hobby . . . it’s huge for mental health, putting yourself in that moment and the rest of life can take a moment.

“Lego’s become so much more than just a two by four brick stacked up, it’s huge.”

People in his community also used Lego as a way to communicate with others, he said.

“It draws people with mental health challenges as a hobby, people with anxiety build Lego and forget about all the stress in their life for a few hours.”

 Others had shown him photos of how Lego had taken over their lives, he said.

“They show me photos of their house overrun with Lego . . . I don’t know if it’s financially a good outcome for them, but certainly for their mental health.”

This year’s Brickshow is set to take place in Invercargill at the stadium and Mr Evans said it would be the cutting edge of Lego showcases.

“I’ve travelled the world at Lego events, been to the very top, the things that our local club members produce and put on the tables for display are at a level of the best in the world.”

“There’s nowhere you can go for two bucks and see anything like this.”

The Southland Brickshow will be held at ILT Stadium September 5-6, 10am till 4pm. Tickets are $2. 

tayler.mutton@alliedmedia.co.nz