YCL100 Stories
Aid to Vietnam campaign bus, London, 1968 
Aid to Vietnam campaign demonstration, London, 1968 
South Vietnamese National Liberation Front delegation at the opening ceremony of the World Festival of Youth and Students in Bulgaria, 1968 
Jenny (left) at the Aid to Vietnam campaign press conference at the World Festival of Youth and Students, Bulgaria, 1968 
Jenny (right) at the hand-over ceremony of the Aid to Vietnam campaign at the World Festival of Youth and Students, with an NLF fighter, Bulgaria, 1968
We are inviting former as well as current comrades of the YCL to share their stories about being members of our glorious League.
Who are you?
What have you achieved as a member of our League?
How has the League made you who are you are today?
Why should the young people of Britain step forward, join our youth movement and conquer our glorious future, today?
Share your story and make history.
- 1953 – Chris B, National Treasurer - Organiser for the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students in Warsaw in 1955 and British representative to the World Federation of Democratic Youth headquarters. West of England YCL.
- 1968 – Jenny T, Organiser of Aid to Vietnam - Organiser of aid to the Vietnamese people. Delegate to the YCL National Committee. Speaker at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Bulgaria, 1968.
- 1968 – Morris P, Islington School Student - Joined the YCL in 1968. Supporter of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party of Guyana domiciled in Britain.
- 1969 – Ruth S, London District Committee - Member of the YCL London District Committee. Anti-racist and trade union activist. Current member of the Executive Committee and Vice Chair of the Communist Party.
Morris (left) with Cheddi Jagan, the first democratically elected leader of the former British colony of Guyana, at his home in North London, circa 1970 
Morris donating a gift to the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, Guyana, circa 2000 
Morris (top left) at a protest against British racist Enoch Powell, North London, circa 1970
Steve, late 1960s 
Steve (right) at the Trades Union Congress in London, late 1960s
- 1969 – Steve M, London Recruit - “London Recruit” in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa in 1971. Trade union youth activist.
- 1973 – Steve J, Yorkshire District Committee - YCL and Communist Party member for almost half a century. Joined in Leeds in 1972. Elected to the YCL Yorkshire District Committee in 1973.
- 1983 – Lorraine D, Greenwich Secretary - Delegate to the 12th Congress of the Romanian YCL. Supporter of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners in 1984 and the workers in the Wapping Dispute in 1986.
- 2009 – Zoe S, General Secretary - General secretary of the YCL from 2013 to 2015. Communist Party candidate for Glasgow North West in 2015.
Student occupation of the Hetherington building, Glasgow University, 2011 
Zoe at the General Assembly of WFDY, Cuba, 2015 
Protest against the Con-Dem Government, circa 2010
Are you or have you ever been a member of the Young Communist League?
We are inviting former as well as current comrades of the YCL to share their stories about being members of our glorious League.
- Who are you?
- What was your YCL branch or position?
- What have you achieved as a member of our League?
- How has the League made you who are you are today?
- Why should the young people of Britain step forward, join our youth movement and conquer our glorious future, today?
Please complete the submission form, writing on those points up to a maximum of 500 words.
If possible, please provide archival or photographic material. This could be a photo of you near the time you first joined, or of a relevant experience mentioned in your story.
With your permission, we will share these stories and any archival or photographic material with your first name and initial of surname only.
We aim to publish our YCL100 Stories in print in 2022 as part of the finale of our 100 year celebrations and project to research and write about the history of the Young Communist League.
By completing this form, you consent to receiving communications from the YCL and having your story published online by us. We will ask for your permission for further uses of your information, ie in print.
Please inform us whether you wish for any information to remain unpublished or be removed.