The people power of Prior’s Court’s supporters earned a film featuring one of our amazing young people second place at an awards evening.

Prior’s Court’s short film “Our impact – Geoff and Shaun’s story” was named as a finalist in the Charity Film Awards 2022, with the winners announced at a ceremony at the Odeon LUXE cinema in Leicester Square, London, on Tuesday, 22 March.

The film missed out on a top three place in its category, but did take the silver prize in the People’s Choice award in the category. This award is based on the number of votes cast for the film after it was nominated in the awards scheme, with the main award decided by a judging panel.

Prior’s Court was represented at the awards evening by Shaun, one of our young adults who is the focus of the film, along with his dad Geoff, Shaun’s keyworker Santi Martinez Parra, Robin Cottage Home Manager Clare Maxwell, and Marketing and PR Manager Dan Whiteway, who produced the film.

“Our impact – Geoff and Shaun’s story” tells the story of Shaun’s path to Prior’s Court and the positive impact made on his life and his family as a whole.

In the film, shot in the summer of 2020, Geoff, Shaun’s father, tells his story about how complex autism has impacted his family, which includes having to have to make the decision for Shaun to live at Prior's Court, more than 80 miles away from the family home in Dorset, to ensure he gets the right support he needs in life.

But Geoff also explains how Prior's Court's approach has changed Shaun's life, and his family's. Geoff speaks about how Prior's Court's work has allowed his family, including Shaun, to do more activities together and ultimately to be "more of a family".

Geoff also speaks of his hopes for his son - independent living and work - while reflecting on how much Shaun has changed since he came to Prior's Court.

The film, produced by Newbury-based ECP Video, can be seen below.

The winner in the £20m to £50m turnover category which our film was placed in was a production by the Scouts Association. The winner of the People’s Choice award in the category was MS Society.