Sue Ryder (1923 - 2000) was one of the exceptional figures of the 20th Century, a woman who dedicated her life to the relief of suffering and whose legacy lives on in the work of the organisations she established across Europe and in southern Africa and, together with her husband Leonard Cheshire, across Asia and in Australasia.

Her life’s mission became clear in the aftermath of the Second World War when she worked as a volunteer amongst displaced and stateless refugees on the continent of Europe.  The first home opened by Sue Ryder was St Christopher's in Germany, designed as a haven for the people she met in Europe, many of whom were survivors of concentration camps.  The first home to be built by Sue Ryder was in Konstancin in Poland, followed by the homes in England.

In the 1950s Lady Ryder worked to establish care services in Poland and Yugoslavia.  These were followed by homes in Italy and Ireland during the 1980s; in Albania, in Kosova during the 1990s.  From 1985, Lady Ryder also began to work in Africa.

After World War II, Lady Ryder visited Czechoslovakia several times to meet sick and handicapped people. At first she helped individuals obtain aid in the form of wheelchairs or medicaments unavailable in the country at the time. During the 1960s she began to co-operate with the Czechoslovak Ministry of Health, aiming to set up a network of five Sue Ryder Homes for those in need. These efforts, however, did not come to fruition after the crushing of the Prague Spring by Soviet invasion forces in 1968 and the consecutive occupation, lasting more than twenty years.

Soon after the fall of the Communist regime during the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989, Lady Sue Ryder initiated a new attempt to found a Sue Ryder Home in Prague. A Czech branch of the Sue Ryder Foundation was registered in 1994 and several months later the Foundation has been successful in a selection procedure to operate the site of Michelský dvůr, the current site of Domov Sue Ryder. When Lady Ryder visited Prague in 1995, she became very fond of the historical premises despite their almost derelict condition.

“Our work is a summons to seek out and face the reality of human suffering, and to do something about it.” 

Sue Ryder, 1953  

Sue Ryder was married for many years to war hero and fellow charity founder the late Leonard Cheshire VC, who died in 1992.   He is still remembered for his good works and the establishment of Cheshire Homes. 

“Through my association with the charities Lady Ryder established around the world, it is clear that she was one of the most significant charitable figures of the 20th century. ” John Oldham, Chairman of Sue Ryder International.

Lady Ryder was made a life peer in 1978 and was a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1975.  She also received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1957.   

Sue Ryder tells her own unique story in her autobiography ‘Child of My Love’ which was published by Collins Harvill in 1986.