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WLCG - Respite Day Centre is Ready
Home of Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group
Our Respite Day Care Centre for Dementia patients is finally built, at 78 Old Lancefield Road Woodend North.
Know as Macgregor's Farm, our short-term, day respite care for up to 15 early-stage Dementia patients who are living at home can come an enjoy.
It's a project that has been years in the making for Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group since 2012, with a vision to fill a void in the the Macedon Ranges region, for this type of care. It is also said to be the very first of its kind in the region.
Development was earmarked for 3.940 hectares of Woodend farmland, at 78 Old Lancefield Road that was gifted for the cause. The facility includes a Respite Day Care with activities in the cottage, caretaker’s house, on-site farm animals and our maintenance shed known as "BJ Shed". The steering group has worked many hours with a team of specialist in Dementia, who recommended the project's approval with an extensive list of conditions.
The report recognised a net community benefit from the project at Macgregor's Farm which gained unanimous support from our councilors & the community. . Cr Janet Pearce said the project would provide much-needed support to dementia patients and their carers. "We know this project is helping the future as our population increases and more and more people are expected to be diagnosed with Dementia," she said. Cr Jennifer Anderson said there were “alarming statistics” about the number of people living with dementia in the Macedon Ranges and thanked WLCG for their tireless work.
"It's great to support something that has community benefit but can also be applied with the planning scheme to this site," she said.
Special thanks to Midland Express 10-Tuesday, February 28, 2023 MIDLAND EXPRESS
Latest’s NEWS - 5th October 2026
We’re glad to share the news that two of our past carers are now co-authors of the recently published COCOON Project (Carer Outcomes in COst-effectiveness analysis Of Dementia iNnterventions). The project is a research initiative (led by Dr. Lidia Engel at Monash University) that develops preference-weighted, quality-of-life measures for informal dementia carers.
The objective was to improve how health economics and cost-effectiveness analysis evaluates dementia interventions by properly factoring in the quality of life of unpaid or informal carers. The COCOON measure is a dedicated descriptive quality-of-life system designed specifically for dementia caregivers.
The COCOON framework evaluates caregiver burden and wellbeing across seven core dimensions:
- Emotional health
- Physical health
- Loss and grief
- Loss of freedom
- Loneliness
- Support availability
- Financial burden
Led by Dr. Lidia Engel, co-authors are Professor Briony Dow, Anne Muldowney, Professor Cathrine Mihalopoulos, Professor Julie Ratcliffe, Assoc Professor Mark Yates, Assoc Professor Nikki McCaffrey, Rosemary Cameron and Irene Jones.
Both Rosemary Cameron and Irene Jones joined Woodend Lifestyle Carers’ Group (WLCG) while in the caring role for their spouses who had memory loss. They went on to contribute their invaluable lived dementia carer experience to the COCOON project.
Today, Rosemary continues her dedicated involvement as our Carer Liaison Coordinator at Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group.
‘Developing a Quality-of-Life Measure for Carers of People with Dementia for Use in Economic Evaluations: Results from the COCOON Project’ - has been published in major health economics and medical journals and sent directly to academic, healthcare, and economic evaluation bodies to improve how dementia treatments are funded.
The publication is now in the National Library of Medicine, as well as other places.
Long-time Macedon Ranges community advocate Cherry Servis has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2026, King's Birthday Honours for her service to community health.
Ms Servis, now living in Koroit, was honoured for decades of work supporting people living with dementia and their carers, much of it inspired by her own family's experience with Alzheimer's disease. Cherry and her husband Patrik lived in the Macedon Ranges for more than 40 years and were heavily involved in the Mount Players Theatre Company.
It was during a rehearsal one winter evening that the family realised something was seriously wrong when Patrik went missing for more than two hours after becoming disoriented and unable to find their daughter's home directly opposite the theatre.
Although the family initially attributed his behaviour to ageing, an MRI later confirmed he had Alzheimer's disease. That diagnosis sparked what would become Cherry's lifelong commitment to improving support for people affected by dementia.
In 2011, Cherry and Patrik attended a series of dementia support meetings organised by Bendigo Health's Carers Support team. When organisers announced the successful program would end due to funding constraints, Cherry proposed that participants continue meeting independently.
With support from Woodend Neighbourhood House this became WLCG’s first home. It was Bendigo Health that found the venue and supported the group by paying the booking fees. Bendigo Health who supported WLCG group and have done so for many years.
Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group was established in 2012. Beginning with just three couples, the group grew to support 32 couples within its first year.
Cherry became secretary of the organisation and remained in the role until 2024, helping to build the group into a vital support network for carers across the Macedon Ranges.
Cherry visited local GP clinics to raise awareness of the group and helped develop programs that not only provided respite and information for carers, but also social opportunities that included loved ones living with dementia. As the group expanded, it moved from its original venue to the Woodend RSL, where it continued to operate for many years.
Cherry's personal journey as a carer was marked by significant challenges. In 2013, Patrik moved into residential care after Cherry was hospitalised with a stress-related illness. He died 10 months later.
The experience led Cherry to envision a welcoming, non-clinical respite facility where people in the early stages of dementia could spend time while giving their carers a much-needed break.
That vision eventually became Macgregor's Farm at Woodend North. Supported by extensive fundraising efforts and a major contribution from local philanthropist, Janet Hawkins OAM, the facility now provides day programs for people living with dementia on a 10-acre property.
Alongside her dementia advocacy work, Cherry served as secretary of the Lancefield Old Time Dance group from 2019 to 2025 and remained active in amateur theatre, which she credits with helping her through some of her most difficult years.
"The worst thing about dementia care is being trapped by it so that you are no longer an individual, you are a carer," she said. "You lose your loved one but also lose yourself."
After returning from the United Kingdom in 2025 and shortly before her 80th birthday, Cherry made the decision to begin a new chapter, relocating to Koroit near the coast she had missed since her childhood on England's Isle of Wight.
She said receiving news of the OAM came as a complete surprise. "It has taken many years and many people to achieve what the Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group has," she said. "I hope that Macgregor's Farm will be there for a long time, to support all those people living with dementia and consequently their carers."
As well as co-founding the Woodend Lifestyle Carers Group, Cherry served as its secretary from 2012 to 2025, coordinated fundraising and activities for more than a decade. Her previous community involvement has included volunteering with the Woodend Aged Care Centre, the Mount Players, the Hamilton Street Opportunity Shop and the Macedon Ranges Age Friendly Communities Project.
In 2017, she received a Macedon Ranges Shire Council Community Achievement Award.