Disability charity Leonard Cheshire is set to sell all of its five residential care homes in Wales this year, according to internal documents seen by Civil Society.
The documents state that six parties have submitted bids of interest for one or more of the homes, following a market exercise in December.
They state that the charity aims to complete the sale of its five care homes in Wales, which provide services for 148 adults with disabilities, by July 2024.
Leonard Cheshire said in response that if there was “any major news of this kind, people impacted would be fully informed at the appropriate time” but did not explicitly deny the plans in the leaked documents.
It comes after Leonard Cheshire recorded a deficit for the fifth year in a row and made 275 redundancies last year.
The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the charity in 2022 due to its financial difficulties, which remains ongoing.
One care home set to close
Leonard Cheshire runs five care homes in Wales – Danybryn, Dolywern, Eithinog, Llanhennock Lodge and Ty Cwm – according to its website.
According to media reports, Llanhennock Lodge, which cares for 34 adults with physical disabilities, is set to close this month.
The leaked documents state that the site will be the first care home divested from the charity’s Welsh branches and is currently at documentation stage and pending approval of the board.
£18.8m target
Plans to divest from its care homes in Wales form part of the charity’s broader strategic plans to bring in £18.8m by September, the documents state.
Leonard Cheshire has already made £11.5m from sales of other closed services completed last year – including Agate House, Alder House and Greenhill – the documents state.
The documents state the charity is in the process of selling three other closed sites in England this year – Chiltern House, Rectory Road and Ashwood.
Leonard Cheshire: ‘Explored a range of options’
A spokesperson for Leonard Cheshire said: “As part of our financial turnaround we've explored a range of options related to our service delivery, against the backdrop of a challenging environment in social care.
“We will not comment on leaked documents which can be taken out of context.
“If there was any major news of this kind, people impacted would be fully informed at the appropriate time.”
