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Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) is a charity supporting disabled people in the UK and around the world to fulfil their potential and live the lives they choose.

Our mission is to create a society in which every person is equally valued. This belief is at the heart of everything we do.

We make a difference to the lives of the people we support offering the opportunity to develop their skills through our employment, education, enterprise, health, volunteering, and digital inclusion projects. With our passionate work we ensure they are active members of our communities, independent, contributing economically, and fully participating in every aspect of our society.

We have supported disabled people in many different ways, to reflect what they tell us they want. This includes providing care in people’s own homes, in supported rented accommodation, in residential homes, in day centres and through respite services. We work hard to guarantee their opinions are heard, their values respected, and their needs met.

LCD Head Office is based in London and we count about 70 services including care homes and day centres around the Uk. Internationally, we are part of a Global Alliance of Leonard Cheshire charities which works to improve the lives of disabled people in 54 countries.

LCD has a long history of hosting international volunteers to add value to our residential care homes and day centres for people with disabilities. The EVS programme is an integrated part of our Overseas Volunteering Programme. This has evolved over the past 10 years also thanks to the expertise gained hosting EVS volunteers, ensuring important outcomes for residents, volunteers, care homes and LCD as an organisation.

Overseas volunteers, with their long term presence in our services and their passion towards our goals, are an invaluable resource and we work hard to allow them to gain the most from their stay with us. They are offered specific training to work with our residents, are introduced to all aspects of our services, and little by little are given the possibility to work independently proposing activities and putting their skills and passions to use. Once they are trained and feel comfortable doing so they also accompany our users outside the services to allow them have the life they want, attending the events they desire, participating to their favourite activities, feeling free to go and spend an evening at the local pub, etc. Volunteers help doing this and so much more as they can also support the services in fundraising events or campaigns to raise awareness of the general population about disabled people rights and needs. We also boost their creativity and sense of entrepreneurship stimulating them to come up with creative ideas for activities and their personal projects.

Freshfields is a residential care home for 33 adults with physical disabilities, some residents also have mild learning difficulties or require additional nursing care. It offers a safe place to live in a friendly, homely atmosphere where residents are encouraged to enjoy activities, engage with the local community and enjoy as full a life as possible. It also offers a Daycare service.