Transforming the future for young people
with complex autism
Quarterly Newsletter
February 2023
Prior's Court News
A fundraising appeal to build a groundbreaking
arts centre, bespoke to suit
individuals with autism, is approaching a
key milestone.
Our Let Me Shine Performing Arts Centre appeal is
closing in on a £450,000 interim target to ensure
ground can be broken on the build.
The interim target has a deadline of the end of March
with less than £150,000 left to raise at the time of
writing - meaning two-thirds has already been raised.
This total includes a wonderful £100,000 donation
from Garfield Weston Foundation. "This project
reflects our commitment to making a positive
difference to communities across the UK. Our
Trustees were delighted to support the project and
hope the new Let Me Shine Performing Arts Centre
at Prior's Court will become a vibrant and busy place
where the power of the arts is truly apparent."
The Let Me Shine Performing Arts Centre will feature
adapted facilities to support young people with
complex autism to access opportunities in music,
dance and drama and the life-enriching benefits this
provides.
As well as the amazing grant from Garfield Weston,
Prior's Court has also been awarded £10,000 of
match funding from Greenham Trust - meaning for
every £1 donated through the
Good Exchange platform, the
trust will match fund that with
a £1 donation, up to the value of
£10,000.
Natalie Norris, our Fundraising
Manager, said: "We want to
maximise every last penny of this
match funding and so we are therefore asking that
all donations raised are submitted via the Greenham
Trust Good Exchange portal. Scan the QR code on
this page to make a donation. Or, search for Prior's
Court on thegoodexchange.com.
"The value of having a bespoke performing arts
centre could be seen recently with our Christmas
Carol Concert. This was held within one of our
Training rooms which gets very cramped which,
combined with the acoustics, makes it difficult for all
of young people to access.
"The new Let Me Shine Performing Arts Centre would
provide a suitable space for this event and others like
it, hopefully preventing our young people becoming
overwhelmed or distressed and empowering them to
fully access the transformational power of the arts."
The overall target for the appeal is £950,000.
Prior's Court's ambition is to use the centre to
research best practice around providing support to
access the arts, and sharing these learnings with
others in the education and performing arts
sectors for the benefit of people with
autism, and their families, across
the country and beyond.
Key milestone for appeal looms as
significant donations confirmed
For more information about
the appeal, go to priorscourt.
org.uk/Appeal/performingarts-centre.
For donation queries,
contact fundraising@
priorscourt.org.uk.