Back Roads: July 15

Tonight on Back Roads, presenter Heather Ewart is in Kulin, Western Australia.

Quirky horse-shaped sculptures, made out of 44 gallon drums, make up the ‘Tin Horse Highway’ which greets you as you drive into Kulin, 280 kilometres from Perth. This is one of the many unusual sights you will see around Kulin, which has a population of less than 400 people. The other is an 18-metre high giant waterslide. Not bad for this small country town which was in danger of disappearing in the 1990s.

“There was no cavalry coming over the hill to save Kulin when these little towns were starting to die,” according to Kulin Shire President, Barry West.

A targeted effort by the local community to save their town, combined with an extraordinary gift from a couple of long-time residents, has helped transform the community.

When they died, Phil and Kath Freebairn left more than a million dollars to their beloved town to be dedicated to sport. As well as the giant slide, the generous bequest helped build the Freebairn Recreation Centre, which has facilities that rival those in the city.

It’s also enabled people like Tanya Dupagne, the founder of Camp Kulin, to move to the area and start a camp for a wide range of children from refugees to kids preparing for life at boarding school. Her work is so successful she was voted Australian Rural Woman of the Year – and Tanya reckons she couldn’t have done it anywhere else.

“I think the big thing about Kulin has been the community spirit that’s here and the way everyone’s willing to chip in and lend a hand,” says Tanya. “If we need food for morning and afternoon teas, or bus drivers or anything like that everyone’s always willing to pitch in and I think that’s been really important for the program. I don’t think it would have actually worked if we’d done it in the city.”

The community hasn’t rested on its laurels. They continue to raise money for local projects. The biggest fundraising – and social – day of the year is the Kulin Bush Races.

In the 24 years the races have been going they’ve raised around one million dollars, which is ploughed back into community projects.

Kulin – a testament to generosity of spirit.

8pm tonight on ABC.