The compassion, dedication and expertise of the amazing Prior’s Court staffing teams has been celebrated at the third staging of our annual staff awards evening.

The Spirit of Prior’s Court Awards was held on the evening of Friday, 21 February, to celebrate the incredible achievements that our staff make happen for the autistic young people with complex needs at Prior’s Court every day. 

Around 180 staff members enjoyed an evening of food, games and prize-giving at Newbury Racecourse in an awards night all about celebrating the hard work, dedication and achievements of the wonderful individuals and teams from across Prior’s Court.

Overall, 15 awards were presented, on the night:

• The Collaborator of the Year Award, sponsored by Blandy & Blandy Solicitors– won by Sam Hack, Data Analyst
• Empowering Others Award, sponsored by Kärcher UK - won by Nuhu Mpete, Team Manager
• The Constant Self Improver Award, sponsored by Jo Thompson Recruitment – won by Lucy Ross, Autism Practitioner
• Innovator Award​​​​​​​ – won by Aimée Hoyle, Corporate and Community Fundraising Lead
• Inspirational Leader of the Year, sponsored by Century Recruitment – won by Clare Maxwell, Care Manager
• Annual Living the Values Award, sponsored by Edwards Lifesciences – won by Myles Dezonie, Autism Practitioner
• New Autism Practitioner of the Year – won by Callistus Nwaokafor, Autism Practitioner
• Autism Practitioner of the Year, sponsored by Scion Communications Ltd – won by Jacob Hayes, Autism Practitioner
• Care and Kindness Award, sponsored by Newbury Building Society – won by Myles Dezonie, Autism Practitioner
• Team of the Year - Services, sponsored by Karcher UK - won by the Marketing & Communications team
• Team of the Year - Education, sponsored by Boyes Turner  - won by the Education Leads
• Team of the Year - Care, sponsored by Karcher UK - won by the Care – Nights team
• The Autism Champion Award, sponsored by Arcadia Heating and Plumbing Services- won by Tim Gilks, Team Manager
• Unsung Hero Award, sponsored by Greenham Construction – won by Annette Robinson, Education and Care PA
• The Dame Stephanie Award – won by Andy Allen, Learning, Development and Recruitment Partner

More than 250 different staff members were nominated by their peers to receive an award with some hugely impactful citations about how colleagues were making such a difference at Prior’s Court.

A judging panel of Prior’s Court staff members chose winners for 13 of the awards from an anonymised shortlist. The Annual Living the Values Award was chosen based on the number of nominations a staff member received for this quarterly internal awards scheme over the course of a year. And the Dame Stephanie Award winner was chosen by our Founding Patron herself from a shortlist of nominees submitted by Prior’s Court staff members.

Kate Lefever, our Director of People, said: “We know we have some incredible people working at Prior’s Court doing truly incredible things but this whole awards process has really made this abundantly clear. There were so many nominations put forward and reading through more than 450 of them was truly inspiring.

“This event could not have happened without the support of the organisations which donated sponsorship, prizes or their time, or without the organising committee so a huge thank you to them for creating what was a special night for everyone involved.

“As we are a 24/7 organisation, I’d like to add a massive thank you to all of the staff members who were working “back at base” on the night, providing outstanding support for the autistic young people in our care.”

In addition to the sponsors of the awards, a huge thank you to the following event supporters who donated goods or their time:

• Greenhouse Graphics
• Cobra Beer
• Sodexo