fernlea’s fabulous,fundraiser

Fernlea House is holding a Fabulous, Fantastic, Frivolous and Fun, Fundraising UN DEB BALL.

Yes, an Un Deb Ball on 18 May. It sounds like a lot of fun and is for a very good cause.

I am always immensely inspired by those who work and volunteer at Fernlea. Their philosophy of “Living, Laughing and Loving” shows in everything they do, but they can't do it alone and need to fundraise in order to continue to operate.

Fernlea House offers Palliative Day Respite for Carers looking after people with Life limiting Illnesses. This does not just mean cancer but also includes illnesses such as Parkinsons, Huntingtons, MS, Motor Neurone Disease, Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease, Diabetes Complications and Liver failure among many others. A palliative illness is one which will get progressively worse over time and put limits on your life expectancy. Dementia is becoming more common as a palliative illness.

At Fernlea, they aim to improve people’s quality of life during the time their illness is progressive and help them and their families live and enjoy life to the fullest possible.

Fernlea's services are provided either in centre in Emerald (& Healesville) or in Carers home (FERNS). Volunteer complementary therapists offer their services (eg Reiki), and a Memoirs program is available. Volunteers transport our guests to and from the Centre either using our bus or in their own cars.

Fernlea House currently operates in Emerald, and has a day program in Healesville. Its unique model of care uses palliative trained Nurses supported by trained volunteers and other professional staff. People love coming to Fernlea for the warmth, love, care, acceptance and socialisation they receive from everyone, who honour their choices, and respect them for who they are.

So pencil this one in your diary, it will be a lot of fun and for a very good cause.

fernlea house turns 10

It was wonderful to gather with friends at Fernlea House - and the occasion? Their 10 year celebration.

Here I am pictured with the driving force behind Fernlea House, Jan Lancaster. It's Jan's passion and vision that's seen Fernlea House become a reality. Along with a dedicated volunteer base and committed staff, Fernlea fills an important need for those providing care for and those with a life limiting illness.

It's been a challenging journey for Fernlea House over the years. Because the house is dedicated to providing a social model of palliative care, it doesn't fit the usual criteria for funding.

Many a time in their history they've been near closure but have always managed a last minute reprieve.

There's no better way to celebrate a birthday than with cake, staff joined with committee members past and present to cut the cake.

As part of the 10 year celebration Fernlea House are coordinating Living, Laughing, Loving - an address book to celebrate their landmark anniversary.

To promote the work of Fernlea House, and as a fundraising venture, Living, Laughing, Loving is being developed. It will include the history of Fernlea and the stories of the people who have been part of this amazing first 10 year journey.

Living, Laughing, Loving will sell for $35 and it's hoped it will be ready for Christmas. You can also contribute to Living, Laughing, Loving by advance ordering or purchasing a page where you can provide a paragraph, photo and quotation about yourself or a loved one or what Fernlea House means to you.

If you'd like to know more about Living, Laughing, Loving click here.

fernlea fundraiser - 17 june

Fernlea House are organising a fundraiser with a difference. A range of local artists will

be on the stage together performing on stage round robin style.

It's a great opportunity to hear local artists, Tracey Roberts, Owen Hardridge, Michelle Chandler, Christina Green, Phil Smith, Stax & Zoltan Almady.

All monies go to Fernlea House respite day centre for palliative care.

Where: The GEM Community Arts Centre, 19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald
When: Friday 17 June, Doors open 7pm, music starts 7.30 sharp.
Cost: $15 tickets at door.

Great door prizes. Food & drink available too.

Fernlea House offers a very special palliative care service for our community. It is not a clinical model of service but a social respite model that cares for people diagnosed with a life limiting illness.

Since opening in 2005, their service has flourished and offers social respite as a free service. They also offer bereavement support, home visits, assisted memoir writing, community education and extensive training programs for volunteers.

What I find significant about Fernlea is their dedicated pool of volunteers, numbering in excess of fifty at any given point in time.

One of the stand out things for me about Fernlea is its ability to make guests comfortable and at ease, many guests enjoy a meal together and will happily eat, a rare experience for those with a life limiting illness.

I have no doubt that Fernlea House fills a critical need in our community for those with life limiting illness and I will continue to be a strong advocate for Fernlea House and the social respite model they practice.

fernlea funded for now

Fernlea house held its open day today and what a buoyant occasion it was. After the announcement of funding to provide respite care last week (see blog) the Committee, staff and volunteers couldn't be happier.

Pictured left to right: Gerald Overton - committee member, Samantha Dunn - Lyster Ward Councillor, Shire of Yarra Ranges, Ann Davis - President, Peter Markes - Chairman, Upwey and District Bendigo Bank Helen Pike - Fernlea's manager, and Jan Lancaster - past President, it was Jan's vision that saw Fernlea House become a reality.

The funding will enable the house to provide 4 days a week on site respite care and 5 days a week in home services. The funding will mean the house will need to extend to ensure it has adequate space to provide even more services to our community.
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It was a great day to celebrate, the committee has done a great job advocating on behalf of the house and I congratulate them on their efforts. The big challenge now will be to raise the funds to build the extension, but there is much support for the house and I'm sure they will be successful.

fernlea funded

stop press stop press stop press

At tonight's community cabinet in Emerald I learnt that Fernlea House had received an eleventh hour reprieve (again!) with funding of up to $479,000 per year for the next two years from the federal government.

My congratulations to all who were involved in the campaign to save Fernlea, it is a valuable palliative care service, providing a caring environment for those with life limiting illnesses. It is terrific news to know that Fernlea can continue to provide a service that is so precious in our local community.

For a campaign history visit:
fernlea fearful - 9 May 2009
yarra ranges minutes (page 11) - 24 March 2009
fernlea’s future in question - 4 October 2008
forests, arts, palliative care, scouts - a busy weekend out and about - 25 May 2008

fernlea fearful

I went to Fernlea House earlier this week to join in an afternoon tea with friends of Fernlea. It was lovely to chat to the volunteers and committee, all who are all so dedicated to seeing Fernlea House continue.

Fernlea House provide palliative care services, but rather than apply a clinical model of care, they provide their care based on a more inclusive and wholistic social model. Their future is in jeopardy, with federal funding running out in June 2009. Although palliative care is a state responsibility, the state government refuses to fund Fernlea because they fail to meet the criteria.

Pictured left to right: Ann Davis - President Fernlea House, Helen Pike - Nurse/Manager Fernlea House, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell and me at Fernlea's open day last year.

Last year the Federal goverment took the decision to cease their funding, however after a significant amount of pressure via talkback radio Fernlea had a reprieve when their funding was reinstated. With this funding due to run out soon, the committee are doing all they can to source out new funding.

They are a valuable service to our community, providing them with wholistic care in times of a life limiting illness, I wish them well in their endeavours.

fernlea’s future in question

I was invited to attend an emergency meeting of Fernlea House with their committee to discuss Fernlea’s ongoing future. Readers may recall that Fernlea House had their funding withdrawn from the Federal Government earlier this year and had to close in a six week time frame. After one of their volunteers called 3AW and the issue gained significant media attention the federal government did a quick turnaround and Fernlea got a reprieve, but only till the end of this financial year.

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Pictured left to right: Ann Davis - President Fernlea House, Helen Pike - Nurse/Manager Fernlea House, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell and me.
Ann and Helen play an instrumental role at Fernlea House, their passion and drive for what they do is inspiring.

Fernlea House offers a very special palliative care service for our community. It is not a clinical model of service but a social respite model that cares for people diagnosed with a life limiting illness. Since opening in 2005, their service has flourished and offers social respite as a free service for up to six guests a day, three days a week. They also offer bereavement support, home visits, assisted memoir writing, community education and extensive training programs for volunteers.

What I find significant about Fernlea is their dedicated pool of volunteers, numbering in excess of fifty at any given point in time.


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Because Fernlea House provide social respite and aren’t connected to a large health service to provide in-patient clinical palliative care the Victorian Department of Human Services have advised them that it is not a priority to fund day hospices. I think this is a travesty for those in our community who visit Fernlea House.

One of the stand out things for me about Fernlea is its ability to make guests comfortable and at ease, many guests enjoy a meal together and will happily eat, a rare experience for those with a life limiting illness.

I have no doubt that Fernlea House fills a critical need in our community for those with life limiting illness and I will continue to be a strong advocate for Fernlea House and the social respite model they practice.

forests, arts, palliative care, scouts - a busy weekend out and about

What a busy weekend it has been, I started the weekend up at Warburton speaking at a Forests & Water forum put on by the local community.

The Warburton community have been very disturbed by the logging trucks that have been going through the town at a very rapid rate. (This has stopped now as logging doesn’t occur over the wetter months).
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Sarah Rees from the Central Highlands Alliance and me with 'Legacy' a book produced by TCHA to highlight the legacy we are squandering by continuing to log Melbourne's water catchments.
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They cannot understand why our catchments are being logged in a time of water scarcity. Neither can Yarra Ranges Council so that’s why we oppose logging of Melbourne’s catchments.

It has been very satisfying to see that nine other municipalities have joined with Yarra Ranges to oppose logging, with council 9 and 10 being the City of Melbourne and the Maroondah City Council. This represents over 1.2 million Melburnians, I hope the state government is paying attention.

Next stop on this busy weekend was Open Studios, a weekend where local artists throw open their studio doors and welcome the public to talk about their art, their inspiration, their lives. I managed to get round to 8 studios and was warmly welcomed by the artists. It’s a great initiative, a great drive around the Dandenongs and it cements our region as a place of great creativity.


Anne and Helen from Fernlea House with Charles 'Bud' Tingwell and me. Charles spoke about his career from the early days and how it continued after his wife died. Charles cared for his wife throughout her illness but never saw himself as a 'carer', just doing what family does.
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On Sunday I dropped into Open Day at Fernlea House, who provide palliative care services for the hills region. It has been a very tumultuous time for the house, their federal funding was cut meaning the service could only be provided to 30 June. A reprieve was granted after a fair degree of people power highlighted the plight through the mainstream media, with the minister granting Fernlea funding to continue the service in the short term.

However the house still has a shortfall in funding and an ever increasing need to provide palliative care services in our region. I wish them well in their discussions with the minister and will do as much as I can to support them in their efforts to secure long term funding at a state and federal level.

Me at Lloyd Park, Belgrave South, getting to know the finer arts of firing water cannons, archery, poi making, bridge climbing and all sorts of scouting fun.
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Last on the list of events for the weekend was the Scout’s Family Fun Day in Belgrave South. There were all manner of devices, contraptions and activities for children to participate in and children had the opportunity to experience the many facets of scouting. It was a great event and very well attended.

It’s been a busy weekend, but a great way to experience the Dandenongs (and Yarra Ranges) there’s a lot on offer with a lot to offer!