A TUTOR is celebrating five years of supporting young people in the community.

Emma Tilbury from Newton-le-Willows set up a one-to-one tutoring service in 2018 and has since helped teenagers with both their education and mental health.

Following the lockdown and as the height of the pandemic had passed, Emma realised that several of her students were struggling with their subjects and had lost their confidence.

This led her to launch mental health sessions alongside her one-to-one classes.

Discussing reaching the milestone following a difficult period during the pandemic, the 43-year-old said: "It feels absolutely amazing, especially in this current climate.

"I’m thriving in five years of business, and it just goes to show that there’s still a demand there for children and teenagers to be able to get one-to-one support.

St Helens Star: Emma set up her tutoring business five years agoEmma set up her tutoring business five years ago (Image: Emma Boyle)

"It was crazy because no one had ever anticipated for schools to close and when they did, I went from tutoring at unsociable hours when schools and colleges finish to doing full days.

"Everybody was so lost, and nobody knew what was happening, and there was an awful lot of anxiety around what’s going to happen with exams.

"Lockdown gave me an extreme sense of pride that I was able to help so many people at such a difficult time, it was almost this sense of ‘we’re all in this together'."

The mum-of-two is looking forward to another five years of supporting young people in the community, with Mathematics sessions due to start this year.

Maths Confidence Class will take place at Newton Community Centre on Tuesday, May 16, from 4:30pm till 5:30pm.

The session will be aimed at 14-15-year-olds and is limited to six per class. 

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