Restored Lives helps people recover from relationship breakdown. By supporting people and their children through separation or divorce, when a relationship is beyond repair, we help reduce the negative effects on individuals, children and communities.
We are a charity dedicated to creating resources to support anyone going through the breakup of a significant relationship. These resources include an eight-session course for adults, a five-session workshop for teenagers and young adults whose parents have separated, online sessions and abuse support groups, a book, workbooks and how-to guides.
If you want to help reduce the impact of separation and divorce in your community why not run a course?
You can access all our materials and training for free and we can work with you to work out the best way to set up and promote the course in your area. Our annual training conference in the summer is an opportunity to meet other leaders and helpers who are running the course around the country. We also run online volunteer training three times a year.
"It helped me identify the bitterness I felt, showed me a way to deal with it and gave me hope for the future. Thank you so much!"
- Helen, Restored Lives Participant
"Seeing others, going through the same hurts and struggles, made me realise that I was "allowed" to laugh again..."
- Lisa, Restored Lives Participant
"It has given me the building blocks which I can refer to in order to move forward and create a positive future whilst also managing the divorce to gain a positive result."
- Paula, Restored Lives Participant
"Thank you for all you have done. Thank you for your encouragement and hope!"
- Jessica, Online Restored Lives Participant
"You have made the group so easy for us to share and come away feeling an awful lot better on a Monday evening - I am not sure I would be feeling so positive (some of the time) without having these Monday evenings."
- Mark, Online Restored Lives Participant
"It is great having people that understand what I'm going through because they have actually been there or are going through the same."
- Richard, Restored Lives Participant
"The best thing about the course is having free and frank conversations with each other about our journeys, emotions, past and future. It is a sustained conversation, not just one night or a weekend"
- Jenny, Restored Lives Participant
"The best thing about the course is being connected to a group of people who were in a similar position as I am and hearing how they were handling their situation. Reading the book or watching the videos alone would have been difficult without having a group to discuss with. "
- Kristen, Restored Lives Participant
"Balanced, realistic, practical, non-judgemental. Ability to be honest as you were with complete strangers!!!"
- Jon, Restored Lives Participant
"Being able to share my feelings with other people in a similar position, not feeling alone as none of my circle of friends are going through this thankfully!!"
Relationship breakdown is at the heart of many social issues
The social consequences of relationship breakdown are huge. Our families and communities are littered with the negative effects of divorce. It’s often the biggest life crisis a person will experience. It affects body, mind and soul and impacts all aspects of a person’s life including their relationships, with children being the greatest innocent victims.
The fallout hits the fabric of society on a massive scale costing the UK taxpayer as much as its defence budget (£50bn). Fegans, the children’s charity, mark this as the single biggest issue affecting children’s well-being as it counts for over 30% of its referrals.
Sadly, with so little support available in the UK, people are left isolated and lonely. Often the anger, hurt and unresolved emotions cause mental health issues, decreased productivity at work which piles on top of increased financial pressures and a period where friends are dividing. This quickly triggers a downward spiral and more difficult relationships.
Children are then often on the receiving end when co-parenting is difficult, if not impossible, whilst at the same time, their own world order is torn apart. It’s not surprising that children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce and the majority of young offenders come from broken homes. This downward cycle can present itself in a multitude of ways causing huge social damage for the children as well as the adults concerned.
If you have been impacted by the breakdown of a significant relationship and would like support visit our go on a course or resources page for more help.
Supporting people through separation or divorce
It doesn’t have to be this way. We’ve seen lives transformed by giving people the skills and tools to take simple steps that overcome the hurt and, where children are involved, create successful separated co-parenting relationships.
Restored Lives has shown that offering supporting people through separation or divorce, bringing people in similar circumstances together and providing the tools to navigate a breakup, gives rise to a period of healing, learning and growth, ultimately resulting in improved relational skills.
This doesn’t have to be the case and we can all start to help. In fact, churches and community groups are already at the forefront of this support using their existing skills and resources.
Find out how you can help by visiting our run a course page
The social consequences of relationship breakdown are huge. Our families and communities are littered with the negative effects of divorce. It’s often the biggest life crisis a person will experience. It affects body, mind and soul and impacts all aspects of a person’s life including their relationships, with children being the greatest innocent victims.