Patrick Regan, who established XLP in 1996, has been made an Honorary Doctor of Law and Social Sciences at Southbank University in London.
The organisation, also known as the eXceL Project, has since grown to boost 35 staff members, 30 students or gap year placement workers and more than 250 registered volunteers.
Under Patrick's leadership, around 90 per cent of children facing exclusion from school who were helped by an XLP programme were still in school one year after the scheme started.
Have not spoken anywhere for 5 months, tomorrow start again at the London Royal Festival Hall, easing my way back in #nervous
— Patrick Regan OBE (@PatrickReganXLP) November 6, 2016
Sending workers to live on the council estates where they serve, XLP claims to take a relational approach, "always based on listening, building trust and working with communities rather than doing things 'for' or 'to' them."
Patrick's roles, including working as a mediator and expert on gang culture, have also taken him to same of the world's poorest countries and most dangerous cities,
He was awarded on OBE in 2012.