Restored Lives – The Charity
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 Restored Lives course for adults, Your Direction, a five-session workshop for teenagers and young adults whose parents have separated, online workshops and specific resources and support for people separating from abusive partners. We also offer resources such as the Restored Lives book, workbooks and free downloadable how-to guides.
Restored Lives – Our Course for Adults
Relationship breakdown can be the hardest experience of a person’s life. No one should have to face it on their own. By joining one of our Restored Lives courses we hope you will become part of a group where you feel supported.
We offer eight-session courses that welcome you into a small group of people who are also facing separation or divorce. Together we explore all the challenges commonly faced when a relationship breaks down, from the emotional struggles to the practical issues including legal and financial matters.
We have consolidated expertise from professional counsellors, family law solicitors, mediators and parenting specialists to create a course that is stuffed with practical tips to help you navigate your separation or divorce and reduce the harm of the process.
Usually, we run about 20 courses across the UK and more overseas. We also run Restored Lives At Home, the online version of our course which you can join from anywhere (groupings are based on location whenever possible).
Your Direction – Our Workshop for 12-17 & 18-30yrs
Your Direction is a five session workshop that brings young people together to talk about their parents’ separation or divorce. Together we explore the challenges and share tools and skills that help young people when their parents separate.
Developed by Restored Lives in partnership with children’s charity Spurgeons, Your Direction combines the experiences of children whose parents have separated, with expertise from professional counsellors and parenting specialists. It is stuffed with practical tips and supportive discussions that help young adults navigate their parents’ breakup successfully.
Your Direction is for young people to attend without their parents. It’s a safe space where they can talk about their feelings with other young people who are facing similar situations. It is available for two age groups, teenagers aged 12-17 and young adults aged 18-30.
For more information please visit www.yourdirection.info.
Restored Lives Policy Documents
RL equality diversity and inclusion policy – Mar 2024.docx
RL Safeguarding Policy statement Feb 2024.docx
Our History
The Restored Lives course was started over 25 years ago by Christopher Compston who is a Judge in the Family Law Courts and a divorcee and was initially called The Recovery from Divorce and Separation course.
From then, it has been developed and evolved by a group of divorcees, led by Erik Castenskiold, with different specialities such as judges, solicitors, communications experts, counsellors, family life experts, financial advisers and mediators as well as many others with no professional qualifications but lots of practical experience.
It is run by a charity called Restored Lives having been birthed from the “Relationship Central” group of courses at Holy Trinity Brompton which includes The Marriage and The Marriage Preparation courses that now have over 6,500 courses operating world-wide.