We’re registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) – and we rely on the following humans.
Core Team
These are the people who run the project, in alphabetical order.
Frances Cresswell
Operations Lead
Frances (she/her) 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 Producer
Holly (she/her) 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 Producer, she assists in production and editorial work for Restart Radio, as well as videos and web content.
Fiona Dear
Co-Director, UK Strategy and Operations
Fiona (she/her) is a long time climate campaigner and particularly loves community campaigning. She tries to buy nothing new so is into upcycling and repair, she gets a bit obsessive about her upcycled bathtub pond in spring and organises a local playstreet. Fiona leads on UK campaigning and operations at Restart.
Cristina Ganapini
Campaigner
Cristina (she/her) has a French-German Master in European Affairs and coordinates the EU Right to Repair Campaign from Brussels. Her passions are languages, music and animals. She is fascinated by the sea and can often be found snorkeling in cold waters.
Edward Hibbert
Developer - Restarters.net
Edward (he/him) maintains and improves our software for community repair, Restarters.net as a freelancer. He also manufactures altruism via the reuse app he co-founded, called Freegle. His puns are the “nicing” on the cake.
Shelini Kotecha
London Network Coordinator
Shelini (she/her) has a Bsc in Ecology and Conservation. She is a keen conservationist and volunteers as a warden at a local nature reserve. Her passions are to make sustainability accessible for all, travelling and yummy food! She coordinates our volunteer work and outreach in London.
Neil Mather
Tech Lead
Neil (he/him) 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.
Dave Pickering
Podcaster
Dave (he/they) is a freelance writer, performer & podcaster: fiction, nonfiction, and everything in between. They’re a “Dave of all trades, master of some. Part Glitter Wizard part Messy Witch.”
James Pickstone
Online Community Lead
James (he/him) 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.
Hannah Smith
Developer - website
Hannah (she/her) develops our website. She is a freelance WordPress developer, sustainable web consultant and public speaker. She is co-founder of Green Tech South West, a volunteer at Climate Act Tech and also founder of the campaign #LetsGreenTheWeb.
Monique Szpak
Data Wrangler
Monique (she/her) is a freelance 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.
Ugo Vallauri
Co-Director, International Strategy
Ugo (he/him) is an Italian researcher with an MPhil in Geography. He leads on international partnerships and on our policy work to push for Right to Repair, and contributes to strategy and fundraising. He is a former fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation. In the past, he worked with Slow Food and Computer Aid. 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 in 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!
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.
Mark Phillips
Photographer
Mark (he/him) is an engineer, researcher and photographer. His PhD researched social ecosystems for innovation and change. His current documentary photography projects address the impact of e-waste and, more importantly, solutions.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 Inclusive Climate Action programme at C40, and previously managed C40’s Divest/Invest Forum and established ShareAction’s 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
Janet Gunter
Isabel Lopez Lopez-Neira
Chloé Mikolajczak
Kathryn Packer
Nikhita Paturu
Ellie Smith
Vanessa Ternes
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!