About the Young Activist Network
We are space for young activists to come together to build campaigns that are important to them and other young people.
The network is made up young activists between the ages of 14-25 who live in Norwich and Norfolk.
Most importantly, The YAN is led by and for young activists – these are your campaigns!
Get in touch to get involved!
Hey, my name’s Owen and I’m one of the paid young activists helping to organise the YAN. My role is to help mobilise young people who are passionate about social justice issues to channel this enthusiasm to create change on issues close to them. I have been involved with community action since I was about 16, with my first campaign being to save my local A&E from closure. After months of street stalls, petition signing, lobbying and demonstrations we were able to prevent the closure of a vital public service. Since then my activism has only grown having been involved in a variety of different campaigns both on a local and national issues. More recently, I ran a campaign focussed on raising awareness of LGBT+ voices in the sporting community helping to break the stigma around LGBT+ inclusion in sports societies. This campaign then went on to receive a national BUCS award for inclusion and diversity.
Currently, I am working on a campaign that aims to break down barriers that young LGBT+ people face participating in sports. As a gay person who plays hockey this is an issue that is important to me as sports should be an environment that is welcoming to everyone regardless of their sexuality.
Hi, my name’s Izella and I’m one of the paid young activists helping to organise the Young Activist Network. I have been involved in political activism since the age of 14 when I first started campaigning on the rights of asylum seekers in the UK; joining demonstrations in solidarity with refugees during the Mediterranean migrant crisis as well as volunteering at a local drop-in centre for refugee families. This hands-on campaigning has led to a continued involvement in organising for social justice issues. Within the YAN I have been developing a project based on the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s, running consciousness raising workshops against the scandal of the spiking epidemic, and how best to understand and recalibrate ourselves to love outside of capitalist, patriarchal limitations. I hope to continue this work with an unconventional celebration of International Women’s Day on the 8th March 2022. Our fortnightly meetings with young people have so far centred on topics varying from insider and outsider lobbying, to resistance to the Nationality and Borders Bill, to the current crisis in the standard of living, with many more issues to discover and explore.