When you give a major gift to Prior’s Court, you’re helping to transform lives and create brighter futures for young people with autism.

Whether you’re an individual or a Trust, our dedicated team will work with you to ensure your donation to our charity makes a real difference – where it’s needed most.  

Get in touch to support us and help transform lives

We offer an individual, tailored service so that we can adapt to meet every supporter’s needs. Some donors are happy to contribute to running costs, or to make a gift and receive a written acknowledgement. Others prefer to build a personal link with the charity, meeting the staff and young people who make Prior’s Court such a special place and seeing the benefit of their gift in action.

If you have chosen to fund a special project or item, we will keep you updated on progress, and make sure that you’re able to see how your support is positively impacting the lives of our young people.

Projects that you can support right now

Prior Insight

Prior’s Court has developed the first digital whole organisational recording and reporting system specifically for children and young people with autism. Prior Insight gives us the ability to record huge amounts of information about our young people throughout 24 hours of the day. This big data gives us a deeper understanding of our young people and factors which affect their behaviours and wellbeing – meaning we can tailor support to best meet their needs and help them to have more good days. By working with research partners, we have the opportunity to use this information to gain unprecedented insights into autism.

Prior’s Court needs your support towards essential maintenance, running costs, and vital investment in platform development – we’re able to continue creating even more sector-leading programmes which revolutionise the way we provide care and education for young people with complex autism.

If you would like any further information on supporting Prior’s Court, or if you would like to visit us to see first-hand the impact your support can have, please contact the Fundraising Team.

Our Prior Insight Appeal

Contact Fundraising

Countryside Learning Centre 

Our Countryside Learning Centre (CLC) is a vital part of our vocational learning programme at Prior’s Court, providing a varied programme of animal therapy, animal husbandry and vocational opportunities such as cleaning the stables, feeding the animals and learning how to handle them.

For many of our young people, communicating their needs and feelings is very difficult as most are pre-verbal and experience high levels of anxiety. As well as providing key skills and learning opportunities, working with our animals means communication barriers are broken down; many young people make important connections with the animals, which can bring about positive change and support significant progress.

Vocational Skills Instructor Maxine Allen remembers how one student‘s behaviour had become so challenging, he was at risk of exclusion. But the CLC staff had recognised a spark in his eye when he was with them. The team engaged him in animal therapy every day and his behaviour calmed and improved dramatically.

We have a number of different animals, numerous paddocks, a nature trail, a yard, classroom, willow area for stories and quiet time, a therapy paddock, 4 stables and a boot room.

All of our animals have been kindly donated, but the cost of looking after them is around £4,800 per year so we are asking for your help to provide their food, bedding and care costs. For example:

• Coral, Lucky and Rick the rabbits cost £50 each per year
• Dizzy the goat costs £100 per year
• Patch and Pippin the piglets cost £150 each per year
• Sarah, Sue and Dan the sheep cost £150 each per year
• Our pony, Merrylegs costs £560 per year
• Our six guinea pigs cost £150 in total per year
• 11 chickens cost £240 in total per year
• Food for all animals costs £2,950 per year

If you would like any further information on supporting Prior’s Court, or if you would like to visit us to see first-hand the impact your support can have, please get in touch with the Fundraising Team.

Our Countryside Learning Centre Appeal

Contact Fundraising

Vocational opportunities / Work for young people 

Our ambition is for our young people to be healthy, happy, as independent as they can be, and have the opportunity to work. Research shows that a minority of adults with autism in the UK are in any kind of paid work, and even fewer are in full time paid employment.

Prior’s Court is working to make a positive impact on this long-standing ‘autism employment gap’ by giving our young people opportunities to gain a variety of vocational skills.

We have a number of on and off-site work placements to suit the different interests and talents of our young people, from sessions in our bakery, to housekeeping, estate management and even sorting and packaging clothing and food at a local charity. 

Please get in touch to see how your support can help us to develop these vital sessions and placements, giving our young people key skills which could pave the way to future employment and increased independence.

Contact Fundraising

See our recently completed projects