Our Founders
Baroness Ryder of Warsaw, CMG, OBE
While serving with the Polish Section of the highly secret Special Operations Executive during World War II, Sue Ryder witnessed the remarkable courage of men and women embarking on hazardous operations from which many did not survive. The inspiration of their deeds led to her founding the Sue Ryder Foundation as a living memorial to those who died.
Group Captain Lord Cheshire of Woodhall, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC
In 1948 as a highly distinguished, retired Royal Air Force pilot, Leonard Cheshire heard that an ex-serviceman he knew was dying from cancer with nowhere to go following his discharge from hospital. After determined efforts failed to find care for him, he took him into his own home and nursed him until he died. It was to become the first Cheshire home and the beginning of a world-wide work.