Lord Banner KC
Lord Banner KC is the Patron of Restart Foundation.
Lord Banner, a barrister at Keating Chambers in London, is an expert in planning and environmental regulation and has recently been appointed by the Prime Minister to lead a review into national infrastructure projects.
Lord Banner is a long-standing supporter of Ukraine, with extensive family connections in the country, and fully endorses the charity’s vision to bring “good mental health to all Ukraine.”
Lord Banner has travelled in Ukraine extensively and commented: “It’s a great tragedy to see this marvellous country with such huge potential suffering from Russia’s illegal war of aggression. I’m honoured to be part of this positive initiative for the wonderful people of Ukraine.”
Aside from his legal practice, Lord Banner is a recent former Chair of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. He was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2004 and to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2010. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019 and practices across both jurisdictions as well as internationally. He joined the House of Lords in 2024.
Robert Brinkley CMG
Robert Brinkley was British Ambassador to Ukraine from 2002 to 2006, where he witnessed the Orange Revolution. He was a British diplomat for 34 years. After Ukraine he served as High Commissioner to Pakistan (2006 – 2009). He had previously served in Moscow (both in Russia and in the Soviet Union), as well as in Bonn, Geneva and London. He is a strong supporter of Ukraine, which he has visited often since leaving government service.
He is an honorary senator of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), and was a senator (member of the governing body) from 2013 to 2019. He was chairman of UCU’s affiliate in London, the Ukrainian Institute London, from 2015 to 2022. He also chaired the Chatham House Ukraine Forum, the BEARR Trust (a British charity which supports small health and social welfare groups in Eastern Europe and Central Asia) and the Advisory Board of the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL SSEES). He was a trustee of the Keston Institute, which studies religion in Communist and former Communist countries. He is a patron of the BEARR Trust, ChildAid to Eastern Europe and the Andrei Sakharov Research Centre for Democratic Development.
Robert and his wife now live in Scotland, where he enjoys walking and making music.
