Meet our founder

Katy Ellis is the founder of Educate to Thrive and a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner with a background in psychology and experience supporting both young people and adults experiencing mental health difficulties.

Through her work delivering low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Katy recognised that many adults reach a point of significant difficulty before learning how to understand and manage their mental wellbeing. Many people enter adulthood without the knowledge or tools needed to navigate stress, anxiety, and emotional challenges.

This insight highlighted the importance of introducing preventative mental health education earlier in life. Katy founded Educate To Thrive to help ensure young people are better prepared with the knowledge and skills needed to manage their wellbeing and navigate life’s challenges with greater confidence.

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Why Educate to Thrive was created

Mental health difficulties affect a growing number of both young people and adults in the UK. Yet many individuals reach adulthood without ever being taught how to understand difficult emotions, manage stress, or maintain their wellbeing.

At Educate to Thrive, we believe that if we want to improve mental health outcomes, education must start earlier. Young people deserve the opportunity to learn about their wellbeing in the same way they learn other life skills.

Educate to Thrive aims to support schools and youth organisations in providing preventative wellbeing education to provide young people with the knowledge and tools to understand their mental wellbeing early, helping them develop healthier coping strategies before pressures like exams, leaving school and starting university become overwhelming.

Our mission is to make preventative mental health education accessible to young people by providing practical, evidence-informed workshops that help young people understand and manage their wellbeing before difficulties escalate.

At Educate to Thrive, we deliver evidence-informed wellbeing education that helps young people understand and manage low mood, anxiety and stress before these challenges escalate.

Our Thrive Workshops are informed by widely used psychological approaches such as cognitive behavioural principles and preventative wellbeing education to help students develop emotional awareness, resilience and confidence.

Sessions focus on equipping young people with practicals skills they can use during key transition periods such as exam pressure, leaving school and starting university.

Our approach

What makes us different?

  • Evidence-informed workshops grounded in psychological models

  • Focus on prevention rather than crisis response

  • Small group sessions encouraging engagement

  • Practical tools students can use in everyday life

  • Delivered by someone with clinical mental health training

  • We believe young people should have the knowledge to understand their mental health and feel confident managing challenges such as stress, worry and low mood.

  • Wellbeing education should be clear, relatable and inclusive. Workshops are delivered in a way that is engaging, culturally aware and accessible to young people from all backgrounds.

  • Our work focuses on early education and skill-building, helping young people develop strategies to manage their wellbeing before difficulties escalate.

  • Workshops create a safe, inclusive and respectful space where young people feel comfortable learning and participating without pressure to share personal experiences.

  • Sessions focus on action-based strategies and real-life skills, ensuring students leave with practical tools they can apply in everyday situations.

Our values

Who we work with

We work with schools and youth organisations that are committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of young people. Our workshops are designed for students navigating the academic social and personal pressures that arise during their education.

Professional standards

Educate to Thrive is committed to delivering workshops in line with professional and safeguarding standards when working with young people.

Workshops are delivered with a strong focus on safety, respect and appropriate boundaries, ensuring students can engage with wellbeing education in a supportive and structured environment.

  • Enhanced DBS check

  • Safeguarding training for children and young people

  • Clear workshop boundaries and safeguarding procedures

  • Alignment with school safeguarding policies and reporting procedures

Any safeguarding concerns that arise during workshops are reported to the school or organisations Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in accordance with safeguarding policies.