Residential and domiciliary care charity Leonard Cheshire has seen its losses grow in 2022/23, but its directors insist its “robust turnaround plan” is “progressing well”.
Its latest annual financial report accounts for the 12 months to 31 March 2023.
The charity’s income for its 2022/23 financial year was £152.6 million, down slightly from the previous year’s £158.4 million.
Expenditure, meanwhile, was also down, though to a lesser degree, decreasing from £163.3 million in 2021/22 to £162.3 million.
This leaves Leonard Cheshire with a net loss of £9.3 million in 2022/23, compared to £5.6 million the previous year.
As of 31 March 2023, the company had: 1,673 people under its care; 62 care homes; and 36 supported-living services.
It had 4,479 employees, with 92% of that number working in front-line or front-line support roles.
Leonard Cheshire chair Neil Goulden said: “I am pleased to say that the strong three-year turnaround being implemented is progressing well.
“It has included securing increased fees and reducing agency staff spend at services.”
He went on to that “key stakeholders” are “satisfied that the charity has a robust turnaround plan in place and is making progress in putting it into action.”
CEO Ruth Owen said: “Since joining Leonard Cheshire, a huge amount of my time, and that of my wider leadership team, has been devoted to addressing a serious financial crisis which had built up over many years. After many years of operating with large deficits between income and expenditure, we had to start reversing this trend urgently in 2022/23.”
She went on: “The difficulties we were facing at the start of 2022 meant that we needed to begin consolidating our activities. We have now pulled out from all of our international delivery, as well as community projects in the UK.”
Looking forward, Owen said: “We will be focusing on doing fewer things but doing them exceptionally well.”
