There’s a bright blue tree at the entrance to Sonoma Mine, part of the QCoal Northern Hub where Thiess operates, and if people ask why it’s there? Well, that’s exactly its purpose.
The roughly 10-metre tree is part of the Blue Tree Project, a mental health initiative that uses striking blue trees as visual reminders to check in with ourselves and the people around us.
The Blue Tree Project began in Western Australia following the death of Jayden Whyte in 2018. A tree Jayden had once painted blue as a practical joke became the inspiration for a movement encouraging conversations around mental health.
There are now more than 1,600 registered blue trees around the world, with many more believed to have been painted but never formally registered. Now one more has been added to that number, standing at the entrance to Sonoma Mine. Every person through the gates now passes the unmistakable blue tree at the beginning and end of their shift.
The idea to bring the project to site was raised during a conversation about ways the Thiess team could support mental health and wellbeing in a way that people would actually notice. Thiess Production Supervisor Cameron Davis helped coordinate the project across site.
Cameron said getting the roughly 10-metre tree painted took a bit more than a tin of blue paint, requiring teams across site to work together.
“I went and saw the supervisor in maintenance and pretty much said, ‘This is our idea, we need your gear, we need some help, permits, all that sort of stuff’,” said Cameron.
“I brought a spray gun in, David Craffield, the maintenance supervisor, organised the EWP and paint was arranged through the Blue Tree Project. Then we organised a night to do it, called some people in to help, and got it painted.”
It became a real team effort, with plenty of pride among the people who helped bring it to life. A solar light is also being installed so the tree, and its message, won’t disappear when the sun goes down.
And people are noticing.
“I don’t know how many people I’ve had go, ‘What’s the go with the blue tree at the front?’ Then you explain to them about mental health and what we’re trying to do,” said Cameron.
“It’s definitely been a conversation starter. Any little bit that we can do to help bring that conversation on and break down those walls is a good thing. It’s just started that ball rolling.”
There is only one blue tree at Sonoma Mine so far, but the project has also sparked ideas about how other visual reminders around site could support important causes and get people talking.
Because sometimes the biggest conversations start with something completely out of the blue.
