Leonard Cheshire Disability is a charity that supports disabled people in the UK and internationally. It is a major social care provider and runs numerous employment, volunteering and digital inclusion projects as well as campaigning for equality for disabled people.

Founded in 1948, Leonard Cheshire Disability has an annual income of £162m and is one of the largest employers in the voluntary sector, with 7,500 members of staff.

Leonard Cheshire Disability takes its name from its founder, former RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire. It started by establishing care homes. By the 1960s, the charity ran over fifty services in the UK and 22 other countries and, in the next decade, began to diversify into community projects and home support.

Leonard Cheshire Disability now works directly with more than 20,000 people in the UK and reaches tens of thousands more through its policy and campaign work. It has offices in London, Edinburgh, Caerleon (Wales) and Belfast.

Social care provision is still a major part of the charity’s work. It operates over 100 care homes across the UK. Residents include people with physical and sensory impairments, people with learning disabilities, children, older people and people with an acquired brain injury.

Leonard Cheshire is one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist rehabilitation for people with brain injuries, currently supporting over 500 people through its network of rehabilitation and long stay centres.

The charity also provides supported living accommodation services, personalised care in people’s own homes, day support, community outreach services and respite support.

Work and skills development is another major strand of the charity’s mission. It provides training to improve skills and support disabled people into employment. Services include providing volunteering opportunities for 16-35 year olds, arranging paid internships at top UK companies and a voluntary, government-supported programme to help disabled people looking to find or keep a job.

Leonard Cheshire also supports digital inclusion for disabled people. It operates a network of accessible IT rooms, giving access to computers and equipment, and offers access to computers and adapted equipment in disabled people’s own homes.

Leonard Cheshire Disability is also an international organisation, with regional offices in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, West Africa, East and North Africa and Southern Africa. It is working to a five year international strategy which aims to promote independence among more than 100,000 people with disabilities in Africa and Asia.

As one of the leading providers of services for people with disabilities in the UK, Leonard Cheshire Disability offers a variety of working environments, such as care homes, day centres and offices.