Summary of the organisation

RESTART Lives empowers London’s homeless to overcome the personal and systemic barriers they are facing and to reach their self-defined goals. From housing and employment, to mental and physical health, we offer wraparound casework and group programmes aimed at empowering each person to take positive steps that are right for them. We believe everyone deserves a safe home.

The current core programmes and services offered by RESTART Lives are:

·        REACT: A drop in hot meal and community service, every Friday 6.30-8.30pm (St Columba’s Church, Knightsbridge). We are in the final stages of agreeing a second hot drinks and sandwiches drop in, potentially to run 3-6pm every Saturday (Crown Court Church, Covent Garden).

·        RESTORE: A wellbeing programme offering weekly team-building fitness including boxing in the colder months (Hammersmith) and football during Spring, Summer and early Autumn (Hyde Park). One to one and group therapy sessions run by a team from our paid partners, Mind are available throughout the year in blocks of 6 sessions, but we can arrange longer term support if impactful for a guest (in the Mind HQ Hackney, at St Columba’s Knightsbridge, at the RESTART office in Richmix, Shoreditch, and remotely via a zoom link in a range of locations).

·        RECRUIT: Group employability sessions online and accessible any time with connectivity, as well as guest volunteering at the Drop In (St Columba’s).

·        CASEWORK: One to one wraparound support to empower individuals to create bespoke plans to reach their self-defined goals (a range of partner locations including Hoxton Job Centre, Lighthouse Hackney, Lighthouse at St Leonards, all RESTART locations and ad hoc locations where a guest needs support eg council visits).

In addition, the charity runs the following extra services:

·        Pop-up events: taster sessions focusing on the key areas of support including introduction to group therapy, therapy dogs, dentist trips, voter registration, access to MPs support, employability drop-in support, focus groups, coproduction groups, hospitality recruitment and training (St Columba’s, Knightsbridge).

·        Resource Fairs: cold and hot weather resource fairs sharing items to keep guests safe and well when dealing with winter or summer conditions and promoting technological inclusion (St Columba’s, Knightsbridge).

RESTART Lives is also engaged in:

·        Raising Awareness: engaging with the media and running events to raise awareness and, in particular, partnering with schools to educate young people about homelessness (a range of partner locations across London and Kent). In 2025 we will offer safe ways for those between 14 and 18 to volunteer at the Drop In.

Since February 2023 the charity thoroughly embedded a trauma informed approach made possible by ongoing training from Mind, our mental health partners, and continued to prioritise coproduction, benefitting from an ongoing partnership with and training from Expert Link.

The need for the work we do

There are a range of organisations that produce homelessness statistics and the true rate of homelessness is hard to calculate accurately due to factors such as:

• Rough sleepers not wanting to be found due to a range of factors such as shame, fear, not well enough either in mind or body to come forward for support

• Sofa surfers and those in unstable accommodation not coming forward for official support (hidden homelessness)

• Individuals in any state of homelessness hiding due to some form of illegal activity eg immigration status

• People in need of support being denied homeless status on a technicality such as filling in forms incorrectly or not having a comprehensive list of past addresses covering the last 5 years which some London councils ask for

Although exact figures are hard to pinpoint, all sources point to a pronounced rise in homelessness including the most severe form, rough sleeping. In December 2023, Shelter published research stating that at least 309,000 people in England would spend Christmas without a home, including almost 140,000 children. This represented a stark increase of 14%, 38,100 people, in one year. The charity also wrote that over 3,000 people were sleeping rough at the time of their research on any given night (26% increase) and 279,400 were living in temporary accommodation (14% increase) - most of whom are families. There were also 20,000 people in hostels or supported accommodation.

Government figures for the period October - December 2023 showed:

Category

Number

Inc year on year

Dec year on year

Households threatened with homelessness

34,220

4.80%

NA

Households initially assessed as homeless and owed relief duty

44,760

15.80%

NA

Households with children as above

11,290

9.30%

NA

Households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty

15,440

15.30%

NA

Households in temporary accommodation

112,660

12.10%

NA

These figures demonstrate that there is a cohort of people needing support, and that cohort is growing. 

Furthermore, that cohort is defined by multiple factors of disadvantage. Research shows that those who are homeless are more likely to be affected by poor physical health (for example, over twice as likely to report a physical health issue than the general public - Homeless Link 2016)  as well as poor mental health (for example, 44% of homeless people have a mental health diagnoses, in comparison with 23% of the general population - Homeless Link 2016). The same landmark research shows that two thirds of the homeless population experience severe and multiple disadvantage such as substance misuse or offending behaviour and that this makes managing health and wellbeing issues harder than for the rest of the population as help may not be sought or, when sought, may not be effectively given to meet the complex web of needs. In 2023, Homeless Link published research showing that at least 50% of adults affected by homelessness have inadequate reading and writing abilities for daily life. On the other hand, Crisis’s research into hidden homelessness suggested that almost a quarter of the homeless have GCSEs, with one in 12 possessing a university degree and more than one in 20 having a professional qualification. 

From all of these statistics, it is apparent that although there are trends in characteristics or symptoms that may be shared by the majority of people recorded as homeless, this disparity between a majority who have low literacy and a significant minority who are very well educated is just one example of why a person-centred approach is crucial to tackling the root causes of each individual’s situation. 

This is where the support of RESTART Lives comes in. The RESTART Lives method of offering one to one casework, alongside group programmes and mental health support from our MIND team, shows a commitment to a person-centred approach. No one intervention is going to solve homelessness as it is not going to be right for every different individual facing homelessness with different circumstances. The charity has grown to offer this multi-option approach over the past two years, and now requires funding to cover the core costs of the charity that make running all of these services possible. 

RESTART Lives Casework

RESTART Lives employs two caseworkers Both are committed to balancing a regular and reliable timetable of working locations (at RESTART services and partner locations such as Hoxton Job Centre and two drop ins run by other charities in Shoreditch and Hackney) with meeting guests where they are needed and supporting them at things like councils, property viewings, or mental health sessions. Last year, with the support of the Lloyds Foundation, RESTART Lives increased casework capacity, in recognition of the diverse causes of homelessness and the need to address the unique individual barriers that a person is facing in order to facilitate the most sustainable life changing results. 

In 23/24, RESTART Lives introduced new ways of measuring outcomes of casework. The combination of measurements is intended to take into account the subjective aims and experiences of guests as well as allowing reporting on concrete key areas. These methods of measurement were The Progress Pathway; The Individual Progress Plan; Concrete Outcome Areas

The Progress Pathway

The Progress Pathway offers five categories of progress from Surviving, to Coping, Adapting, Changing and Thriving. When a guest first engages in casework, the caseworker uses the category guidelines to assign a stage to that guest. Alongside the Progress Pathway, a Progress Plan is made with each guest, which sets out a goal and milestones towards it. As they continue working with the guest, the caseworker assesses every month or at every milestone (whichever comes first) which category of progress to assign to the guest. 

Guests who joined at the ‘Surviving’ Stage

• 25 guests joined

• 48% moved one stage

• 16% moved two stages

• 12% moved three stages

• 8% moved four stages

• 16% stayed still

Guests who joined at the ‘Surviving’ Stage

• 25 guests joined

• 48% moved one stage

• 16% moved two stages

• 12% moved three stages

• 8% moved four stages

• 16% stayed still

Guests who joined at the ‘Coping’ Stage

• 40 guests joined

• 60% moved one

• 10% moved two

• 2.5% moved three

• 22.5% stayed still

• 5% went backwards

Guests who joined at the ‘Adapting’ Stage

• 34 guests joined

• 20.5% moved one

• 5.8% moved two

• 64.7% stayed still

• 8.8% went backwards

Guests who joined at the ‘Changing’ Stage

• 10 guests joined

• 70% moved one

• 20% stayed still

• 10% went backwards

Guests who joined at the ‘Thriving’ Stage

• 1 guest joined

• 100% stayed still

The Individual Progress Plan

The Individual Progress Plan works alongside the Progress Pathway.

• Jointly created by the guest and their caseworker, a progress plan involves identifying the key barrier holding a guest back and setting an ultimate goal in relation to overcoming that barrier.

• Aiming to break down the goal into manageable steps, each plan includes up to five, timebound milestone targets and agreed actions to take to reach those milestones and that goal.

• How it works: as each milestone passes, the caseworker records whether or not the target was reached and whether the guest can be assessed as having also moved along the Progress Pathway.

Last year, of 136 guests taken on for casework, 51 reached one milestone, 35 reached two milestones, 20 reached three milestones, 12 reached four milestones and six reached five milestones.

Last year, we used our recording of the goals set by guests to give an idea of the key areas contributing to homelessness. 44% of guests set goals in housing, 19% set a goal in Employment, 6% in Personal Development, 5% in Other (which primarily covered immigration issues) and 25% had not yet set a goal when the final report was made. These 25% may be newly onboarded for casework at the end of the financial year, may be working on a simple quick-fix issue, or a complex goal covering all areas, or may not have engaged with this part of the process. 

Since the start of the new financial year in March, this year we have already taken on 90 cases so are on target to once again support as many if not more people than last year. This year, we have built upon our collection of data, and are now recording ‘Probable cause of homelessness’ which caseworkers ascertain by their overall understanding of each guest’s situation, taking into account the goal they set, their self defined root causes of their homelessness, and any other background information shared. In Q1 this year, we found that Financial Trouble and Immigration Issues represented the highest percentages (15.6% each) with Substance and Alcohol Issues and Employment Trouble representing the second largest categories (9.4% each). Relationship Breakdown, Mental Health Issues and Legal Trouble as well as ‘other’ made up the rest. As well as making sure our caseworkers are well informed, trained and plugged into a network of local services to provide the best support in relation to these areas, we are also sharing the information with local and national government and offering our insight into how they might sustainably tackle those root causes. Our hope is that tracking how these areas change over time will help to provide insight into how policy and other external factors are affecting those most vulnerable to homelessness in our society.

RESTART Lives is working constantly to make casework as accessible as possible. For example, this year we have added a live translation service available any time over the phone meaning that non English speakers can benefit from the same in-depth service as those who speak English confidently. We also can cover guests’ travel costs and provide healthy refreshments based on individual needs.

Casework can be standalone support, or be used alongside engagement in our or other charity programmes. Eligibility is decided on a case by case basis.

As well as providing direct front line support, caseworkers have demonstrated success in applying for direct-to-beneficiary grants such as the St Columba’s Benevolence Fund and the Vicar’s Relief Fund.

Case studies are accessible on the RESTART Lives website.

RESTART Lives Programmes

REACT

In 23-24 the Drop In welcomed on average 89 guests per week and 717 unique individuals overal. You can see the monthly breakdown below, with lower figures seen usually when night shelters are open and some guests stay put for dinner and a place to sleep elsewhere.

This year we served 14366 meals; welcomed our 1000th guest since our record keeping began; supported 717 unique individuals in this service alone; continued our partnership with Haircuts for Homeless offering a haircut service every 6 weeks; gave 179 haircuts

At Christmas time, we gave Christmas gifts to the first 100 guests through our doors for Christmas Dinner at the final drop in of 2023. These gifts included an All For One £10 voucher, kindly donated by Dani Organics, plus chocolates, hats, gloves and other essentials.

In Winter 2024 we plan to begin running a second Drop In at Crown Court Church in Covent Garden, operating 3-6pm and serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches and snacks and offering a warm, welcoming, community space for those who need it most.

RESTORE

In 2023/2024 we started a paid partnership with Mind in the City, Hackney and Waltham Forest. This included provision for one to one and group therapy for guests, supervision (reflective practice) for staff, training for staff, consultancy to the CEO and capacity for ad hoc mental health support.

We ran one six week group therapy programme for guests; twenty 1:1 therapy sessions for guests.

We were also selected as a chosen charity by Mind to receive free training in Mental Health Awareness and Signposting which they have a contract for on behalf of Public Health, Hackney Council, this will commence in April 2024/25.

We use qualitative data, and guests’ self assessments in PHQ4s to understand how impactful our mental health services are. Some of the success of these sessions is recorded in case studies available on our website. One guest said to us: “The [therapy] sessions with Hana are working, I’m feeling calmer and I’m not having the anger outbursts any more.”

Last year also saw Restart Lives start to offer pilot wellbeing programmes aimed at personal development, confidence building as well as physical and mental health improvement, running weekly football session in the summer and weekly boxing in the winter.

RECRUIT/ Pop up Events and online access

In 2023/24 Restart Lives once again offered a group employability programme imparting skills like CV writing, job searching, acing an interview, amongst other topics. In Q1, these were hosted for the first time at our Tower Hamlets office location with three guests in attendance regularly.

The attendance was low and the charity therefore changed strategy to make sure those who needed the support were able to access it in different ways, identifying the need to travel to a specific location on a specific day and time, regularly as the barrier to greater inclusion.

In 2024, RESTART is in the process of creating a fleet of online videos and resources for guests to access anytime from any location with wifi to impart the same skills and information (and more) as originally included in the RECRUIT in-person sessions. These can be used by caseworkers to add that element of support or guests can access on their own from locations such as libraries. RESTART also started a pop-up, weekly laptop use club at the Friday evening Drop In so that guests could access resources like this, or otherwise be supported to search for work and do things like write cover letters or work on a CV.

In April 2023, the charity also started a partnership with Hoxton Job Centre Plus, to offer background, wraparound support to those receiving benefits and seeking work. As well as imparting work-related skills on the Recruit programme, our work with the Job Centre was intended to support guests in other areas of their life such as with finding accommodation, or dealing with mental health issues, so that they were in a better position to attend Job Centre appointments, avoid sanctions, and ultimately take advantage of any training, job fairs, or work opportunities that may come up.

The partnership with the Job Centre is testament to the Restart Lives understanding that approaching work, finding work and keeping work, is about more than skills directly relating to employment, and just as much about other barriers being under control if not overcome, and a person being ‘ready’ in a range of ways to take that step towards self-support. As of the first quarter of working with Job Centre Plus in Hoxton, 50% of our guests in casework were guests who we met there, demonstrating a need for the kind of wraparound support that we offer.

Due to issues like lack of social housing, and changes to Home Office policy, RESTART found that more guests than usual were having to focus on meeting basic needs before working on employment in 2023, so there were only 12 guests who made a goal of moving into employment and did so. Nonetheless, how gaining work makes even just one person feel is important. One guest told us: “RESTART did the one thing that I couldn’t do for myself. I was totally lost, I was frightened. I had work, good work, and then a stroke and I couldn’t get back I just had no idea how to. The connection RESTART made for me has just opened it all back up again and I have a whole plan.” A guest whose poor health left them homeless and who lost all confidence to support themselves back into work.

Building on our finding that guests needed programmes to be accessible and low on commitment requirements to allow for wider participation, we organised to regularly use the Church space before Drop Ins to run a range of events such as therapy dogs, CV writing, money wellbeing workshops for women, and life coaching sessions.

Resource Fairs

In winter, we ran two resource fairs at our knightsbridge drop in centre. 19 attended in November, 74 came in December.

We shared 100+ coats; clothing such as trousers, shirts, hoodies, socks, underwear, gloves, hats, and shoes; smart phones for those taking steps towards employment or with other reasons of need; basic phones; sim cards with payment plans; phone chargers and power banks; hygiene kits; bags

This Summer, in 2024, we ran our first Summer Resource fair, offering items like SPF50, caps, fans, sleeping bags, hygiene kits, bags, and chargers. The fair items were fully funded by a kind individual’s donation of £2000, and the event was run by staff and volunteers from KERB and Sessions UK. At this fair, having learnt from the two we held the previous winter, we collected impact statements and found that, 

• 9 out of 10 guests who completed a survey enjoyed the fair

• 8 out of 10 said they’d not received similar report from any other organisation

• 9 out of 10 were happy with the resources they received

• 100% of guests said the resources they received will help them going forward

Raising Awareness

Since 2023, RESTART team members have been focusing on partnerships with schools to allow for awareness raising with the youngest in our community.

The CEO and Programmes Manager have run talks, classes and assemblies at Knightsbridge School; Weald Community School; North London Collegiate School; Garden House School; Brighton Prep School. The charity have started taking on work experience students and in 2023 also started a badged scheme - the RESTART Lives ‘Charity Champion’ award, for school children who are going above and beyond to learn more about homelessness and seek to help those who need it in ways appropriate to their age and circumstances. So far, over 50 of these badges have been awarded. With the team’s support, schools have run their own Sleepout events, done art and writing projects around homelessness, and run events like bake sales, or completed runs to support the organisation.

Core Costs

The core costs that the Charity is set to incur this year are the costs of running an office and staff costs.TOTAL CORE COSTS: £284,135

This is set to rise to £366,132 in the next financial year as costs rise, and we grow to meet the rising demand for homeless support.

Budget and Funding Strategy

Our current funding strategy is prioritising ensuring that at least the skeleton operation of RESTART Lives can be guaranteed to operate for the next three years. This skeleton has been defined as comprising the REACT Drop In (inclusive for even those not currently contemplating or making changes) and two caseworkers (most impactful service to support sustainable self defined positive changes) as well as maintaining all current staffing, with some build in annual pay rises scheduled. By ensuring the continued operation of these core aspects, RESTART Lives will be able to fulfil its mission statement of accepting where guests are whether they are looking to stay safe while homeless or looking to make positive changes, and being able to provide impactful support and motivation to those seeking to turn their life around. Our aim is, of course, to raise enough funds to keep all of our programmes in operation and to continue to grow the charity as we have done over the past year and a half, but the priority is funding for those core activities and core team.

Breakdown of previous funding

The organisation is currently funded by a mix of individual donors, partner schools, partner organisations as well as grants, trusts and funds. The majority of current funding awarded and reserves held are unrestricted. 

Our most recent annual accounts shared with the Charity Commission for FYE 22/23 show that we received the following grants:

-Lloyds Bank Foundation £27,250 (part of a three year grant)

-Knightsbridge School £20,000; and

-Haileybury School £20,000.

Donations were a large part of our income with the following breakdown:

- Individual donations, £58,430;

- Online donations, including through JustGiving and CAF: £87,893; and

- Gift Aid: £7,550.

Many of those donations came to the charity due to the Sleepout event which took place in November 2022. This is an annual event which secures income between £60000 and £100000 for each event in the last three years. 

We are currently preparing to submit the accounts for 23/24, and once again the Sleepout event brought in just over £70000. We became the Social Impact Partner of Alix Partners and our drafts show we were awarded £11,374 from their foundation. We also received a donation from a personal foundation of £25,000 as well as a smaller donation of £3000 from New Line’s foundation.

Current funding and plan

This current year, we renewed our partnership with Alix Partners and expect a similar level of funding from their foundation. We also became one of three chosen charities for Canaccord Genuity, which is on track to achieve just over the level of funding from Alix Partners. We are again running the Sleepout event (6th December 2024) and are targeting reaching £100,000 in donations due to starting our campaign two months earlier, having a newsletter with over 500 subscribers which we did not have in previous years and having had a higher level of individual giving in the previous financial year. 

We are seeking to replicate the relationship we have with Alix Partners and Canaccord and be selected by one other company as their chosen charity.

In 2021, the Lloyds Foundation awarded RESTART Lives a multi-year grant, allowing us to secure the medium term operation of our core services and to start offering casework. This has now come to an end, and we are looking to again find the same security to compliment the consistent but not guaranteed individual donations and single year grants and partnerships we have secured. 

We have been awarded so far £30,000 from Garfield Weston towards core costs, £4000 a year for three years from Skinners’ Charitable Trust to support caseworking with survivors of Domestic Violence/Abuse, and just over £11,000 for winter support from the Julia Rausing Foundation.

Either at the end of this financial year, or the start of the next, we will submit a larger scale joint application for Lottery funding. This will be a joint endeavour with Mind who have been our mental health partners since the previous financial year. We are awaiting a long enough period of data and research to make this bid.