Youth Legal and Resource Centre

Who we are

Who we are

Youth Legal is an independent charity based in Wandsworth, assisting marginalised and vulnerable young people across the London area.

Youth Legal facilitates young people’s access to justice through high quality young person-friendly legal advice, support and education.

Our specialist legal advice is focussed on fighting for children and young people to be safe and secure, with appropriate housing and care.

What we do

We advise and represent – standing up for young people’s rights through the provision of high quality young person-friendly legal advice and holistic support.

We support and empower – giving young people the knowledge and skills to manage their problems and providing expert 2nd tier support to youth professionals.

We campaign and influence – fighting for change through strategic litigation and acting as an exemplar delivery model.

We listen and engage – enabling young people to hold ourselves and others to account.

Youth Legal believes that all young people should have their rights respected, be able to secure equal access to justice and be able to achieve a successful transition to adulthood.

Our Work

We employ a small staff team at our offices in Clapham Junction in South-West London.

Our work includes providing:

• high quality specialist legal advice tailored for young people in Housing, Community Care, Debt and Money Advice and Immigration.
• training for young people and their support workers in young people’s rights and responsibilities
• an advice line
• a 2nd tier telephone advice service for grass root organisations
• strategic litigation

Youth Legal is renowned for our expertise in:

HOUSING

Assistance for young people facing homelessness, possession proceedings / eviction and other problems with landlords.

DEBT AND MONEY ADVICE

Advice on credit debts, rent arrears, council tax arrears, utility bill arrears, available debt solutions and income maximisation, to get young people’s finances back into shape and provide them with the confidence to manage their finances in the future.

WELFARE BENEFITS

Basic, non-specialist advice on welfare benefits issues relating to disability, employment support allowance, housing benefit and rights of residence in relation to our Housing and Community Care cases. If specialist advice is required, we refer out.

IMMIGRATION

In 2021 we initiated a new immigration advice service, with seed-corn funding from the London Borough of Wandsworth. We provide legal advice for young people and families with children who do not have leave to remain, or need to obtain settled status or apply for British nationality. We aim to regularise young migrants’ immigration status so that they can resettle in safety and rebuild their lives.

Our Values

Youth Legal’s six core values are as follows:

Rights-based – all our work is rooted in young people’s legal and human rights

Expert – all our advisers are highly experienced, skilled and qualified to provide legal advice specifically to young people

Compassionate – we listen to young people, take them seriously and care about them and their futures

Committed – we go the extra mile to ensure our clients secure justice

Inclusive – we prioritise those in greatest need and work to redress inequality

Collaborative – our staff, Trustees and Youth Advisory Board work closely together, and we partner with many other organisations to meet young people’s needs