Prospects (charity)

Prospects is a Christian charity in the United Kingdom whose aim is to support learning disabled adults, and to enable them to reach their full potential. It was founded in the mid-1970s by David Potter, a Christian minister, who was drawn to the needs of these adults because he and his wife had a daughter with Down's syndrome.

The charity's method of operation is to seek a partnership with a local church before opening a residential facility; this dates back to the original residence, Plas Lluest, near Aberystwyth, which was purchased and established with the help of the Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, with the child of two members of that congregation as the first resident.

Though headquartered in Reading, Berkshire, it now operates over thirty residences, serving upwards of fifteen hundred adults, in Northern Ireland, Wales, and England, and partners with organisations overseas, also. In addition, through some of the residences, it offers day services to adults who come in from the community, rather than living on-site.

For most of its history, the stated employment policy of Prospects has required applicants to be Christians to be considered for employment. Recently, that policy has changed such that now applicants must accept and adhere to the values of the charity, but without the actual religious test.

Based on the headline over the article Potter wrote and published in the Evangelical Times, Prospects was originally called A Cause for Concern. The name was changed in 1997, at the same time as a reorganisation from a charitable trust into a limited company with charitable status.

References

Potter, David C. (2001). "Through Changing Scenes", Carlisle, Cumbria: Paternoster. ISBN 1850784337

External links

* [http://www.prospects.org.uk/ Prospects website]