County Durham Community Foundation, Grant Funded Project, Teesdale
This client was referred to us via a Social Prescribing Link Worker at Teesdale PCN. The client was suffering from really bad depression and anxiety. She admitted to having hoarding issues and felt she had a lot of items that needed to be sorted out but didn’t know where to start.
We had an initial telephone conversation with the client who said her aim was to move from her current isolated location back to Darlington where she had friends and family. She had been in discussion with Darlington Council about moving but she knew her house was too cluttered and would need to be decluttered before she would even be considered for a move.
Our first visit was on 12th February 2024 and we explained that as we had received funding from County Durham Community Foundation, we would be able to support her for up to 10 hours at no cost to herself. At the first meeting she was very anxious about us being there and explained she had been in an abusive relationship, she was grieving for her mother, her adult sons were often in trouble with the police and she had issues with her elderly male neighbour. All of this had led to things getting on top of her and she felt overwhelmed. She said she had no self-esteem or confidence and felt that people were judging her. She had three dogs and because she felt judged, she only walked them when she knew nobody else would see her. Previously she explained she had been a keen ice skater but now she had no confidence to do anything like that. She rarely left the house, except to walk the dogs. She was not taking part in any therapy or counselling sessions and didn’t feel able to be involved in anything like that.
The ground floor of the house was “busy” but the rooms could be used for the functions intended. It was clear to see that the house had been looked after previously. There was a large garden with two chickens and two geese and they were well cared for.
The upstairs is where the hoarding behaviour had manifested. There were three bedrooms and a bathroom. Although she was able to sleep in one of the rooms, it was very cluttered and dirty. The middle room, which she said her grandchild sometimes stayed in, was very cluttered and there was no access to the bed, cupboards or window. The small room contained most of the hoard and the door only partly opened and so was very awkward to enter. The landing area was a good size but again was very cluttered so it was quite difficult to manoeuvre around and there was a hatch leading to a very full loft.
At the first visit, to gauge how prepared she was to declutter, we asked if there was anything she could identify straight away that could go and she said she was happy for most of the clothing on the landing to be taken away and so we spent some time sorting through that with her and she visibly relaxed while we were doing that. We then arranged a date for the second visit.
On the second visit we had four staff working across two bedrooms. Heather and Rebecca worked with the client in the middle bedroom, whilst Karen and myself worked in the small hoarded bedroom. The middle bedroom was filled mainly with toys, clothing and bedding. Initially the girls made a pathway so they could work safely and items were placed on the bed. They were then more easily able to ask the client to agree to keep or donate and the donated items were bagged up ready to take away. The client enjoyed working with the two girls and was quickly deciding what she needed to keep. The final half hour was spent hanging clothes in the wardrobes and generally tidying up. The area was now clear. The client was delighted with the result in such a short time (2hrs) and said she now understood how to start decluttering and would try to clear her bedroom once we had left.
The small bedroom was a different matter. Access was very difficult but in moving some of the boxes we could at least enter the room and begin the sort. Anything that was obviously rubbish/recycling was bagged up. We then tried to group all like things together. The client had previously been involved in a beauty business and so all of those items were collated and boxed up so that she could decide what to do with them. Clothing and shoes were bagged up ready for her to sort through but after a short while, she decided that they could all be donated to charity as she had not worn any of them for such a long time. This meant we could quickly create more space so that we could work more efficiently. After two hours we had two full cars of items to donate and one car full of recycling/waste.
Even though there was still a lot of clutter in the client’s bedroom and the small room, she was very happy that we had made such a good start and was keen for us to come back soon.
We made three more visits to the property (2 staff each time) and the client began to enjoy us being there and we did have a good natter and a laugh with her while we were working. She was moved to tears when she found some of her late mother’s items and was happy that she could now display them.
Generally, when clients say they want to do some work themselves once we have left, they don’t. However, each time we returned to this property the client had been busy decluttering and sorting through her hoard. She was quite happy to bag things up knowing they were going to be donated to others. On our last visit she showed us the loft and was very proud that she had almost cleared it. Some of the items were too large for us to remove so a van was hired and we were able to take the larger pieces of furniture and children’s outdoor toys to charity. We also removed some of the scrap items that were dumped outside of the property, (an old washing machine, BBQ and bar stools).
On two occasions the client called to say she had decluttered further items and asked if we could take them to a charity for her, which we were happy to do.
By the end of the project, the client had a functioning house. Her mood was much improved and she had joined an art class where she had made new friends and had arranged to meet them outside of the class. She was in discussion with the Council about moving and had been offered the possibility of a house swap which she was considering.
Testimonial from Client
“Hi Cheryl, I just wanted to say thank you to you and the others who came to help me. I know you say it’s me who’s done all the work but it’s a great deal down to you that I got off my backside really. I feel so much better now than I did from the beginning. I felt as if I was in a great big hole and it was impossible for me to get out but a couple of months later at least now it's much more manageable for me when I go through stuff at a later date. I’m so grateful Cheryl, I really am and I hope I was OK to be around and work with. XX”
Photographs of Middle Bedroom - showing before and after
Charities Supported
The client was happy for items to be donated to any relevant charities so we supported the Greyhound Trust (with duvets and towels); the Salvation Army (with clothing and toys) and Far Place (with bric-a-brac and some toys).
Number of hours - 10 hrs 20 mins spread over 7 visits
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