Formerly known as the Astell Foundation, RESTART LIVES was founded in 2009 by Andrew Marshall. Following a year volunteering with another homeless charity, he was struck by the scale of homelessness in London and was inspired to respond by setting up a charity of his own. From 2011, the charity ran a friendly, volunteer-led drop-in at St. Augustine’s Church in South Kensington.

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In 2018, RESTART forged a new link with St. Columba’s Church in Knightsbridge, where it continues to welcome homeless or vulnerable guests, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, nationality or faith.

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While the drop in is the beating heart of what RESTART does, it's focus is on enabling guests to take steps towards supporting themselves. With holistic, person centred support in mind, the charity offers one to one casework to an average of 30 guests per quarter, group programmes to get guests employment ready and able to sustain work, one to one and group mental health interventions including therapy with our in house Mind team, and weekly sports aimed at promoting health and self care.