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.
She 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 and 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.