People’s Choice Award 2026 Bronze Longform Over £5Million
Judges’ Award 2026 Gold Longform Over £5Million
“The Long Road; Stories of love, hope and autistic young people with complex needs” features current Prior’s Court young person Zac, and Prior’s Court ‘alumni’ Peter and Jenny, and their families.
The focus is on the struggles autistic young people with complex needs and their families go through before a child comes to Prior’s Court (challenges to family life and getting funding for a placement to name two) but also how there are lifelong worries for parents about what happens in adulthood for these young people.
Jenny and Peter’s families talk about how their children’s lives were transformed in their time at Prior’s Court, setting them up for fulfilling and happy adulthoods – but also presenting a nuanced picture that SEN families still must fight for their children throughout their entire lives.
As Mark Sutcliffe, Jenny’s father, puts it in the film: “Believe, have ambition, infinite calm, and patience and structure and repetition and it will all work out.”
This film focuses on Prior’s Court and how the impact of the work we do empowers autistic young people with complex needs for the rest of their lives. But the wider point isn’t that Prior’s Court and our approach is the only solution – it is that the right support, in the right place at the right time for young people like those at Prior’s Court provides a lifelong impact that benefits everyone.
Prior’s Court is a registered charity providing education and residential care for autistic young people with complex needs, aged 5-25. Set within a 50 acre site in Berkshire, we have extensive bespoke facilities to help our young people to be healthy, happy, more independent and have the opportunity to access the world work.
Prior’s Court is here to transform the lives of the autistic young people with complex needs in our care; to help them achieve the impossible and give their families the magic moments they never thought they would have.
We understand that the little things are actually the big things for an autistic young person, and we celebrate them as major milestones. A daily life skill gained or an anxiety conquered today is a stepping stone towards tomorrow’s work placement, or a shared special occasion with family.
Prior’s Court never stays still. We are ambitious for the young people we support and aspire to be a global leader for autistic young people with complex needs. We want to deliver outcomes for them beyond our imagination; to help transform the lives of even more autistic young people, and develop practice improvements which we can share across the world.
Places at Prior’s Court are government funded, this covers the young people’s residential care and learning needs. What this doesn’t cover is specialist equipment such as a sensory swimming pool, fun days out like a trip to theme parks, tailored facilities such as our residential homes designed with autism in mind, an onsite Countryside Learning Centre, a bakery to learn work skills and the opportunity to have extraordinary experiences. Prior’s Court is ambitious and strives to provide the best possible care, equipment, facilities and events, and we rely on incredible supporters to make these ambitions become a reality for the young people we support.
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
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