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Location and facilities
Three homes and the Learning Centre of Prior's Court's Young Adult Provision
are located on a section of Prior's Court's 50 acre site, between the villages of
Hermitage and Chieveley, with easy access to the town centres of Newbury
and Thatcham within ten minutes. An off-site residential home, Charlotte House,
is based in the nearby village of Hermitage offering opportunities to use
community facilities including the village shop, pubs, garden centre and bus
service. For details of the off-site home, please see the separate Statement of
Purpose for Charlotte House.
The location of the homes brings within easy reach a wide range of leisure
facilities including swimming pools, bowling alley, shops, restaurants, cinemas,
countryside for walking, museums or venues for activities such as horse riding,
golf, youth clubs, football clubs and more. Reading, Bracknell, Basingstoke,
Oxford, and The Ridgeway are all within half an hour's journey providing
opportunities for leisure and learning. There are vehicles to support frequent offsite
trips as well as good access to public transport and safe walking routes from
the homes to the local village amenities which include a bus stop, restaurants
and a shop.
The layout of the site supports the aims of the Young Adult Provision, providing
opportunities to learn and practice a wide variety of purposeful skills within
carefully designed, realistic settings enabling each individual to develop their
skills to participate within community life. Skills learnt on-site are then practised
and generalised in the local community.
The residential accommodation has been carefully designed to provide a homely,
supportive and realistic environment that is autism-specific.
The three homes on the Prior's Court site, fully refurbished in 2019/2020, provide a
variety of different housing options:
• small group homes in Dove and Robin Cottages with accommodation
each for six young adults,
• flats in Bradbury Cottages with accommodation for two young adults in
each of the four flats.
This gives each young adult the opportunity to live within appropriate
accommodation according to their needs, preferences and lifestyle choices and
providing them with the experience to prepare for future housing choices. A
young adult's age, abilities and compatibility with their peers is also considered
when deciding on accommodation.
The houses and flats have been designed to provide an age appropriate
environment which promotes dignity and respect for each individual. Each young