Northern Enterprise Awards 2025/ 8 Best Educational Support Service 2025 - West Yorkshire Every child deserves a chance. And it was a chance meeting between former deputy head teacher Katharine Young and specialist dyslexia tutor Maggi Hewitt that led to the creation of the Young Minds Matter Study Centre in 2017. Celebrating its 8th successful year, the centre supports children from Year 1 to Year 11 whenever they need a little extra help to succeed. Based in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, the Young Minds Matter Study Centre was founded to help those children and young people struggling in mainstream education, those wanting to excel, and everyone in between. A small, welcoming establishment, the centre places its focus on making learning a fun and positive experience. Supporting children who find the school environment difficult to navigate, Young Minds Matter offers daytime skills-based courses in science, design technology, and cookery, to name just a few. In the evening, specialist GCSE teachers take up the baton, helping older students master all the subjects and techniques they need to succeed in their exams in addition to educational support for primary students SAT’s and adult learning. As a small business, the centre is both reactive and flexible, tailoring programmes to individual learning needs. By offering ‘step outs’ to local schools, Young Minds Matter also helps students and parents waiting for longer-term specialist education placements. Each of the Young Minds Matter founders is driven by a passion to give children the best education possible. Katharine employs her extensive knowledge and experience in education to create positive outcomes. She tells us: “Education is the key that opens up opportunities for the future. That’s why we want to build on the work carried out in schools and deliver tailored, personalised learning in a friendly, supportive environment. This develops confidence and enables children and young people to fulfil their potential, whatever their ability or barriers to learning.” As for Maggi, a former nurse, when her daughter Paige, was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyscalculia, she knew she would do everything in her power to ensure Paige could succeed in education. This led Maggi to explore the Orton-Gillingham approach and become a certified therapeutic tutor for children with dyslexia. Since 2020, Katharine and Maggi have noted that demand for their services has grown. Maggi tells us: “It’s sad, but no one could have predicted the effect the COVID-19 lockdowns would have on children. For many, social skills are lacking. Levels in reading, phonics and maths are below where they were, but pupils are still expected to achieve at the same level. We’re seeing lots more children finding the school environment challenging. Larger class sizes, additional noise and lengthy lessons are resulting in poorer concentration.” Having built solid relationships with Wakefield Council and a host of local schools, Young Minds Matter welcomes most of its new afterschool primary and high school students through word-of-mouth referrals from happy parents. Katharine says: “We’re so lucky to have a wonderful parent support system. As a small centre, we prioritise the areas we know we excel in. We attribute our success to the kind, inclusive working environment we’ve built for both staff and students. Of course, we follow best practices when recruiting new staff, but ultimately, anyone joining the team needs to be a great fit. We take that very seriously.” Atop this, Young Minds Matter also works with adults who need to upgrade their qualifications so they can change their career or progress in their existing industry. No matter age or ability, Young Minds Matter continues to offer premium educational support. We’re happy to see Young Minds Matter building on its successes, and look forward to what Katharine, Maggi and the team will achieve in 2026. Contact: Katharine Young & Maggi Hewitt Company: Young Minds Matter Study Centre Web Address: https://study-centre.co.uk/
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