We’re registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) – and we rely on the following humans.
Staff
These are the people who run the project, in alphabetical order.
Frances Cresswell
Operations Lead
Frances has previously worked in regeneration in the South Bank area for many years, before joining in January 2018. She has an MA in Victorian Studies, a BA in literature and recently completed a course in counselling studies. She moved to South London on a temporary basis almost 20 years ago and is still there.
Holly Davies
Communications Assistant
Holly is a lifelong Londoner, writer and photographer with a Film Studies BA from King’s College. She began trying to solve the environmental crisis by switching to biodegradable face glitter and now as Communications Assistant, she assists in production and editorial work for Restart Radio, as well as videos and web content.
Janet Gunter
Outreach Lead, Co-founder
Janet is an American/British activist, anthropologist who has lived and worked in Brazil, East Timor, Portugal and Mozambique. She has lived in Brixton, south London, for 10 years and feels at home there.
Neil Mather
Tech and Data Lead
Neil is a coder and tinkerer living in the North of England. He works on our apps, sites, and data, and volunteers at Restart Parties helping to fix laptops. Outside of Restart you'll find him at a gig or hiking somewhere around Cumbria.
Chloé Mikolajczak
Campaigner
Chloé is a Brussels based environmentalist who is passionate about making policy transparent and inclusive. With a background in sustainable fashion and campaigning, she'll be coordinating
James Pickstone
Online Community Lead
James is a tech-obsessed online community manager with a background in youth work. As the new Online Community Lead, his focus will be on supporting events outside London and fixing up our online spaces.
Vanessa Ternes
London Network Lead
Vanessa is a DIY-enthusiast who cares about making sustainability easy for everyone. As our London Network Lead, she takes care of our London-based volunteer community and connects with repair businesses in the city. In her free time, she is involved with scouting and will never skip a good hike.
Ugo Vallauri
Policy Lead, Co-founder
Ugo is an Italian researcher with an MPhil in Geography. He is a Fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation, focusing on openness in the repair economy. He worked with the Slow Food movement, then for Computer Aid International in Kenya. He left his heart in Nairobi, and now lives in Camden.Volunteers & Community Coordinators
In addition to fixers, we rely on a team of volunteers and coordinators to help in the office and to lead our community.
Jamie Hillier
London volunteer coordinator
Jamie started fixing to save himself buying new headphones every year - now he can’t stop! Back at Maplin his boss would say “you’ve always got everything in pieces!” - as faulty items were being disassembled on the counter. Then he discovered Restart. Now he fixes professionally, voluntarily and uncontrollably!
Halima Koundi
London volunteer coordinator
Halima is a French/Moroccan London-based software developer, volunteering with the Restart Project, co-organising the Rosie Restarter skill shares to encourage women to tinker and become restarter volunteers.
Philip Le Riche
Community Coordinator – Repair Wiki
Philip probably learned to read a circuit diagram before he leaned to read English and has always loved tinkering with electronics and computers. But he equally enjoys sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm through the written word, so as soon as it was invented he threw himself into the Restart Wiki.
Monique Szpak
Community Coordinator - Data
Monique is a software developer who loves simple fixes and a decent pair of shoes. She fondly remembers her math teacher who abandoned the curriculum to teach her Fortran. She helps wrangle Restart's repair data and gets community members interested in analysing it and pulling stories from it.Our “Restarters”
Our parties wouldn’t happen without our volunteer Restarters. From talented fixers to party organisers, here are just a few of our regulars.
Our trustees
Our trustees provide advice, and help us stay on course.
Karien Bezuidenhout is a director of the Shuttleworth Foundation, supporting individuals and organisations with innovative ideas to make the world a better place. She helps them to get from conception to fulfilling their vision.
James Carrigan is a trained designer but identifies as a problem solver and absolutely loves creative challenges. As the co-founder of Fixperts and Sugru it’s fair to say that fixing stuff is in his bones.
Gavin Conway is an avid fixer, DIY’er and tinkerer of all things mechanical and co-founder of Tea and Crafting – a home for hobby craft in London. He’s an expert in start-up, fast growth marketing for the likes of Airbnb and Google Nest Labs.
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino is an author, consultant and designer living in South London. She was the first UK distributor of the Arduino, the founder of Good Night Lamp and is the initiator of the Low Carbon Design Institute.
Tim Gonzaga is a Technical and Training Assistant Director at Kingston Smith, a firm of accountants. He works with a variety of charity clients and is the firm’s expert on charity financial reporting.
Karl Stefan Hall is CEO of AGT (UK) Ltd, an IT support company that is committed to transforming environmental and social issues. AGT delivers training, support and opportunities from its base in Brixton, South London.
Friederike Hanisch has co-founded and been co-hosting Hackney Fixers for years. By day she is Senior Manager for the C40 Divest/Invest Forum, and previously established and ran ShareAction’s the European Responsible Investment Network.
Mike Tuffrey is cofounder of the business consultancy, Corporate Citizenship, treasurer of the New Economics Foundation and a former London Assembly member.
Staff alumni
Lauren Collee
Isabel Lopez Lopez-Neira
Kathryn Packer
Nikhita Paturu
Ellie Smith
You
Everyone brings valuable experience to a party to share, whether they’re aware of it or not. Bring us your smashed phones, your silent alarm clocks, your truculent toasters! Share your knowledge, hopes and dreams! Learn through doing! Come to a party!