Leonard Cheshire

Group Captain

Leonard Cheshire, our founder Group Captain Lord Cheshire of Woodhall V.C. OM,DSO, DFC was born on 7 September 1917, near Chester. Following graduation in law from Merton College Oxford, in 1940 he joined the Royal Air Force. He was the most highly decorated pilot of the second world war, with three DSOs, a DFC and a Victoria Cross, recognizing his extraordinary courage.

Group Captain Leonard Cheshire started "Cheshire Homes" charity in the UK in 1948, immediately after the World War II. In a selfless act of human kindness in 1948, he opened his home to Arthur Dykes — a disabled veteran dying of cancer who had nowhere else to go.

From nursing one man in his home in Hampshire, England, he started getting requests to take in more people who needed constant care. He also started receiving requests from volunteers who wanted to get involved.

Having initiated several in the UK, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire arrived in Mumbai in 1955 with three volunteers, two vehicles and GBP1900 and a firm conviction to initiate services for persons with disabilities.

The only person that he knew in Mumbai was Mrs. Nina Carney, wife of the chief engineer of Burma-Shell. Just at the right time, a Burma-Shell contractor, through the intervention of Jimmy Carney, Nina's husband, offered them a three-roomed hut.

Soon after moving into the hut, an ambulance arrived with a man who the driver said was found lying on the road, He was in the advanced stages of cancer. His name was pop, and he became the first Cheshire Home resident in India.

The Mumbai Cheshire Home was the first Cheshire Home outside the U.K. founded by Leonard Cheshire. Today there are 23 Cheshire Homes and services in India, and over 250 Cheshire Homes across 52 countries.