An important milestone for one of our
young people and his family has been
achieved, with two of our Residential
staffi ng team going above and beyond
to make the special occasion a success.
Young person Felix had an overnight visit home
to stay with his parents in Hertfordshire over the
summer.
While Felix has frequent visits back to the family
home, this was his fi rst overnight stay since
he joined Prior's Court in 2016. The path to a
successful overnight stay at home for Felix was
delayed due to family illness and the Covid-19
pandemic.
Two staff members with a strong connection
with Felix, Keely Townsend and Emma Barker,
supported the visit on their time off, staying
overnight at a nearby hotel to be on hand if Felix's
parents needed them. This was in addition to the
huge amount of preparation work which went in to
ensure the stay would be successful.
Symbols and schedules were set up for Felix to be
informed of the overnight stay, with copies of these
also provided to Felix's parents, Lizzie and Rupert, for
subsequent visits.
Felix, Lizzie, Rupert, Keely and Emma enjoyed a meal
out together at a restaurant on the evening of the
visit, before the Prior's Court pair then supported
Felix through his night-time routine.
Felix's mum Lizzie said: "Felix has regular visits home
but this particular visit felt like such a milestone and
a huge achievement for all of us.
"This would not have been possible without Keely
and Emma's support and we are incredibly grateful
for their help. The bond they have built up with Felix
is very clear and the confi dence they inspire in him is
wonderful to see.
"I am constantly in awe of the dedication of staff
members at Prior's
Court but Keely
and Emma should be
congratulated for giving up
their time and making sure Felix's visit
home was a success. They are wonderful people and
a credit to Prior's Court."
Sarah Butcher MBE, our Director of Young People's
Wellbeing, said: "This is exactly what Prior's Court is
about - giving our young people and their families
magical moments they may never have thought
they would have.
"Keely and Emma's dedication to ensuring Felix's
fi rst overnight stay at the family home since he
joined Prior's Court was inspiring to hear about. Their
efforts have given Felix and his family memories to
treasure. The whole Prior's Court family is proud of
them."
Duo's eff orts to ensure milestone home
visit is a success
Celebrating young people's
achievements and providing
our young people with the
appropriate support to express
their opinions are two key
focuses of our work.
That's why it is so important for us to
celebrate a recent achievement by
young person Alfi e who contributed to
a photo presentation put forward in his
Annual Review meeting.
For the Education section of the
presentation, Alfi e was told the
topics he needed to fi nd a suitable
image for - such as hoovering in his
housekeeping vocational learning.
He then selected the image he
wanted to refl ect that element of his
learning journey and placed it within
a PowerPoint document, resizing
the images to fi t the layout of the
presentation when needed.
This means Alfi e had the opportunity
to refl ect and celebrate on his progress
over the past year, and share that with
those in his circle of support.
Having his say on progress made