Our focus is young people aged 18 to 25, especially those not in education, employment or training (NEET), who have the talent but not the networks. We equip them with skills, networks and coaching to lead, in law, finance, technology, property and beyond. We provide the development. Our partners provide the doors.
Every pathway starts at entry level. For now, each industry offer covers CV building and interview skills, with roles added as they come up. Register your interest and we will match you to partners and opportunities as they open.
New: our Law pathway is delivered in collaboration with BPP StreetLaw, commencing January 2027. Applications are open.
Banking, investment, accounting and fintech, from first role onwards.
In collaboration with BPP StreetLaw, commencing January 2027.
Ask about StreetLawSoftware, data, product and the AI economy.
Design, planning and the built environment.
Media, healthcare, engineering and beyond. If it is a career, it is on our roadmap.
YCLN is the development layer. Every member can opt in to the programmes that fit their goals, before stepping through the doors our partners open.
A six-week, cohort-based programme built with young people, for young people. Communication, professional skills, and the practical capabilities employers actually look for.
Open to all membersNetworking is a skill, not a talent. Workshops that turn introductions into relationships, and relationships into opportunities.
Open to all membersStructured coaching that helps you set direction, build confidence, and take ownership of your career, whichever industry you choose.
Open to all membersYour Voice. Your Community. Your Leadership Journey.
Become a Reverse Mentor.
You're not just a Participant, You are a Leader.
Regeneration was supposed to improve places. Across London it is doing something else: towers go up that the people who lived there could never afford, and communities, most of them poorer and most of them Black and minority ethnic, are pushed out of the areas they built. The decisions are made by people who will never live with the consequences.
RegenAct turns that around. You are the young person from that community. The senior professional leading the project is your mentee. For twelve weeks they meet you every week, and you teach them what their plans miss: what is working, what is missing, and what happens on your streets after their site visits end.
A consultant runs a two-hour session, ticks a box, and writes the report. You find out what was decided when the hoardings go up.
For twelve weeks the same senior professional meets you every week. You set the agenda. What you know goes into their design decisions, their business case, and their board papers.
Four phases. Each one ends with something you have produced that the project has to take seriously.
You set the ground rules, tell your story, map what your community actually has, and flag the issues nobody has written down yet.
You walk them through your area at your hours, not theirs. You show them who really holds power, and audit the promises made last time.
You turn what you know into the language projects answer to: social value, Section 106, the business case for listening.
You write the report together and present it to the people who sign it off. Then you celebrate, properly.
We develop young people. Our partners deliver the experience layer: placements, insight and industry access.
Home of the StreetLaw programme, commencing January 2027.
Supporting early-career exploration and discovery.
Delivery partner for the RegenAct reverse mentoring programme.
Partner for career skills development workshops.
YCLN began as the Young Community Lawyers Network, a youth-led movement closing the gap between underserved communities and the legal profession. Young people told us the same barriers exist in every industry, so we evolved. Same mission, same model, much bigger doors.
We remain youth-led, designed and shaped by over 200 young people, including those not in education, employment or training. We believe young people from migrant and marginalised backgrounds deserve the same access to professional careers as anyone else, and the best way to achieve that is to let young people lead.
Our legal arm
Our original name, still doing the original work. The Young Community Lawyers Network is YCLN's legal arm: community law support for the people who need it most, on the issues that decide whether a family stays in its home, keeps its income, or stays safe.
Tenancy disputes, eviction prevention, and knowing your rights before the letter arrives.
Unfair dismissal, discrimination, and the rights your employer hopes you never read.
Domestic abuse support, protective orders, and safety planning done with care.
Mental health advocacy, social care support, and standing up for civil liberties.
Are you a young lawyer or law student looking for voluntary experience in community law?
Whether you are a young person, a future facilitator, or an organisation that shares our values, we want to hear from you. You can also reach us directly at info@ycln.org.uk.
StreetLaw is BPP University Law School's free legal education programme, delivered by trained postgraduate law students. Through YCLN, members aged 18 to 25 can access interactive workshops on the law that affects their lives, from employment rights and consumer law to social media and the law, plus sessions that map the real routes into the legal profession.
Register your interest through YCLN and we will coordinate your place with the BPP StreetLaw team.
Register interest via our form