The England branch (AN) of the European Latvian Youth Association (ELJA) was established at a congress held in Nottingham on 5 June 1955 in Nottingham. Gunārs Tamsons was appointed as the authorized delegate of the England branch to the Second ELJA Congress in Augustdorf, Germany. By the time of this congress, the England Branch had identified around 150 young people who were already active in folk dance groups, choirs, sports groups and scout or Guide groups. Therefore, the 2nd Congress of ELJA AN was convened on 29-30 September 1956 in Bradford. The congress made these decisions:
1. To elect the board of ELJA AN in order to promote youth cooperation.
2. To establish ELJA AN groups in Latvian centres.
3. To encourage young people to support relief work for compatriots in Latvia and in exile.
The main goals of the organisation were to unite Latvian youth, to maintain the national spirit, to promote cultural and educational events, and to organise events for young people in England twice a year.
The following people were elected to the Board: Gunārs Tamsons (chairman), Valdis Auers (vice-chairman), as well as Gunārs Rožkalns, Elizabete Bulle, Daila Fafrote, Ojārs Lediņš (liaison with the Latvian National Council in Great Britain – LNPL), Zigurds Pētersons (liaison with the Latvian Welfare Fund – DVF).
In the years that followed, eight ELJA AN groups were formed: Bradford, Coventry, Leeds, Corby, Nottingham, Wiltshire, Cardiff and London. Each group had its own board. In order to attract more young people to active participation, the 4th Congress of ELJA AN decided in 1958 to form interest sections, but rejected the proposal to form a political section. At this congress, it was decided to create a travelling memorial award in honor of the tragically deceased (26.05.1957) Ojārs Lediņš in. The award was first received in 1962 by the ELJA London group. The decision of ELJA AN to involve its members in the work of LNPL was successful and in the 1961 elections, LNPL elected: Z. Daškevica, Kr. Krūmiņš, M. A. Zariņa, T. Zariņš. If, in the early years, ELJA AN members were 20-30 years old and had received their education in Latvia or in refugee camps or Germany, then in the 1960s there was a generation who grew up and had been educated in England. Several groups ceased to operate as many relocated as a result of their studies. As the material situation improved, young people had more opportunities to collaborate with other branches in joint events. In 1968, a World Youth Congress was held.
The new left-wing movements of the 1960s had little effect on the young people of ELJA AN, as they were more interested in social-cultural events. However, in 1970 the AN held a political seminar at Rowfant House, with the participation of Atis Lejins and Imants Freimanis from Sweden, and Indulis Kažociņš, J. Ranka, P. Aigars and J. Sapiets from England.
In the early 1970s, there was a hiatus in the activities of ELJA AN. This was partly due to the decrease in the number of members and also because of and over-full social programme. In addition to the regular congresses, there were also World Youth Congresses, Church Days, Youth Celebrations, European Summer Courses. In 1973, the idea of abolishing the department even arose. However, at the 1974 Congress, board members took on organizing responsibilities in 4 districts. It became a tradition to hold seminars at the Latvian Home in Almeley near the Welsh at the turn of the year. It was also decided to publish an information periodical called "Youth". The invitation to get involved in establishing contacts with compatriots in Latvia did not receive a response. The main topic of the 1974 New Year's seminar was relations with Latvia, but attendance was very small.
Starting from 1975/76, the ELJA AN general meetings with the elections of the board took place during the New Year's seminar and continued thus until the beginning of the 1990s.
At the 1986/87 New Year 's General Meeting, it was decided to rename the ELJA England branch to the ELJA Great Britain branch (ELJA LN). In 17-18 September 1994, ELJA LN, together with LNPL organized a Political Seminar. This also turned out to be ended the the last event of ELJA LN.
ELJA itself also ended after the renewal of Latvia's independence, as the number of members and activities decreased rapidly. It could be considered that ELJA ceased to exist in 2006, although liquidation did not take place in accordance with the statutes.
On 12 August 2004, the 50th anniversary celebrations of ELJA took place in Riga, and on 31 March 2005, its successor organization, ELJA50, was founded in Riga.
However, several young Latvians living in Europe outside Latvia, after the seminar camp "School for Young Leaders 2019 – on the way to a European Latvian Youth Association", expressed a wish to renew ELJA. It is to be hoped that young people in Great Britain will also support this desire. See https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/latvija/atjaunos-eiropas-latviesu-jauniesu-organizaciju.a342557.
