Restart Foundation

28/07/2026

Our Safe Space Annual Report for 2025 is here — and it tells a story of real, lasting change for children across Kyiv.
This year, our team supported 348 people, including 119 children directly, across 5 kindergartens — delivering 405 activities in total.

"Children moved from critical to borderline anxiety levels, and from borderline towards normal ranges."

Parents told us about warmer conversations at home. Teachers told us they finally felt equipped to support children who'd been through so much. And we certified 12 new specialists to keep this work going.

Read the full report here: restart-foundation.org/news/safe-space-in-2025-annual-report/

💛 If this moved you, consider sharing it — more people seeing this work means more support for the children who need it.

15/07/2026

Feedback like this reminds us why we do this work.
"It is clear the programme helps children feel seen and heard, and profoundly impacts their experience of safety... Keeping a playfulness in approach appears key."
That's from Gerry Byrne , founder of the Lighthouse Parenting Programme at the Anna Freud Centre, reflecting on our April conference on supporting children during wartime.
Thank you to every speaker, facilitator, and participant who made it such a meaningful day. 💛

🎥 Watch the full conference recording on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/-foundation-org

03/06/2026

We've just published a new programme report from Kyiv — and this one tells a story we don't often see documented honestly: what happens when a community initially resists change, and then transforms.

Between September and December 2025, our Safe Space team worked with 23 preschool children, their families, and educators at I-School kindergarten in Kyiv. Eleven weeks of sessions. Nights interrupted by shelling. Children arriving overexcited or exhausted, carrying things no small child should have to carry.
One child said, at the close of the programme, that she was "no longer afraid to stay in the nursery."

A mother wrote: "He became calmer and more attentive to his emotions. He began to talk more often about what he is feeling. What was especially valuable was that everything happened through play, creativity, movement, and warm communication."
The full report is free to read and download — in English and Ukrainian.

👉 restart-foundation.org/news/safe-space-at-i-school-kindergarten-a-programme-report-from-kyiv�

27/04/2026

Last week, 142 educators, psychologists, and child wellbeing practitioners gathered for our online conference «Supporting Children in Times of War: Experience of Implementing the Safe Space Programme in Kyiv Kindergartens».

Nine speakers. Three hours. One shared commitment to children's mental safety.

Missed it? The full recording is now available on our YouTube channel:
🎥 https://www.youtube.com/-foundation-org

10/04/2026

In just one hour, we gather to talk about what matters most — the mental safety of children during wartime. 💛

Today at 14:00, practitioners, educators, and mental health professionals come together for our conference «Supporting Children During Wartime: Experience of Implementing the Safe Space Programme in Kyiv Kindergartens».

We'll be sharing real experience, evidence-based approaches, and honest conversations about what it takes to create a genuinely safe space for children — emotionally, not just physically.

Simultaneous interpretation available 🌐 (Ukrainian ↔ English)

Join us — the link is open to all 👇 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87181054620

31/03/2026

Restart Foundation was delighted to hold our 2026 Charity Event at the 5 Hertford Street Club last Thursday 19 March.

We would like to thank our team of amazing supporters: especially our patrons Lord Charles Banner, Robert Brinkley CMG, Rob Rinder MBE.

We were honoured that Dr Lesia Sak, one of Ukraine’s leading psychiatrists and team member of Restart Foundation, travelled from Ukraine to speak at the event and talked about how important healing is for the people of Ukraine: the children, the veterans, the families.

We were very grateful to welcome some of our charity’s Trustees, friends, donors, supporters, and others who are working to heal Ukraine and ensure that its children will have a happy future. Particular thanks to our Founders' Circle members who bring their funds, networks, ideas and insights in support of our mission.

Your help will enable Restart Foundation to run programmes in 2026 to support the children of Ukraine and give them a chance of a fulfilled future.

26/03/2026

How can children feel safe and supported during war?

On 10 April, Restart Foundation is hosting an online conference about the Safe Space Programme in Kyiv kindergartens.

🗓 10 April
🕐 14:00–17:00 Kyiv | 12:00–15:00 UK | 07:00–10:00 ET
💻 Online

Hear from psychologists, educators, and programme teams working directly with children affected by war.

We will also present programme results and key findings.

🔗 Register here: https://forms.gle/yR5zKa5gMdZYq2nq9

🔗 Learn more: https://restart-foundation.org/

23/03/2026

Запрошуємо на онлайн-конференцію

«Підтримка дітей у час війни. Досвід реалізації програми “Безпечний простір” у дитячих садках Києва" — подію про те, як створити в садочку середовище, де дитина навіть у складні часи відчуває безпеку, підтримку і турботу.

Коли: 10 квітня | 14:00–17:00 | онлайн

Під час конференції команда проєкту, а також психологи, освітяни та керівники закладів поділяться реальними кейсами роботи з дітьми в умовах війни: як підтримувати емоційну саморегуляцію дошкільнят, працювати з дитячими страхами та тривогою, вибудовувати партнерство з батьками, піклуватися про ресурс педагогів та інтегрувати принципи програми «Безпечний простір» у щоденну роботу команд дитячих садків. Також ми ознайомимо вас із результатами роботи та досліджень. Після участі у конференції заклади отримають можливість долучитися до програми «Безпечний простір» та впровадити її у своїй команді.

Долучайтеся разом із колегами — керівниками, методистами, психологами та вихователями — щоб разом створювати для дітей справді безпечний простір.

Реєстрація за посиланням - https://forms.gle/yR5zKa5gMdZYq2nq9

Програма реалізуюється за підтримки організації Restart Fondation https://restart-foundation.org/ua/

Більше про програму: https://bp-program.com/

10/03/2026

Restart Foundation was deeply saddened to read this article in The Telegraph about the growing psychological trauma experienced by Ukrainian children.

Sadly, this reality is something we witness every day through our work in Kyiv’s kindergartens. Children are growing up under the constant threat of missile and drone attacks, often spending long periods in shelters and living with a level of uncertainty no child should have to experience.

Through our Safe Space Programme, Restart Foundation works with children, parents and educators to help them understand and process trauma, strengthen emotional resilience, and create supportive environments even in the most difficult circumstances.

Even in the darkest situations, recovery is possible when the right psychological support is in place.

You can learn more about our work here:
https://restart-foundation.org

Original Article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/27/traumatised-ukrainian-children-haunted-by-war/

Four years of conflict are exacting an emotional toll on its youngest survivors, with the impact set to reverberate for generations

05/03/2026

At Mandryk Kindergarten in Kyiv, the Safe Space Programme took place during a period of continued missile and drone attacks.

Sometimes sessions were interrupted.

Sometimes children had to move to shelter.

And then they came back — and carried on.

This is the quiet resilience of childhood in wartime.

Our latest report shares how structured psychological support strengthened children’s emotional regulation, equipped parents with tools, and trained educators in trauma-informed care.

Mental health support in war is not abstract. It happens in real rooms, with real interruptions — and real courage.

Read the full report:

https://restart-foundation.org/news/mandryk-kindergarten-1/