Rainbow Red's Privacy Policy & GDPR

25th May is a memorable date.

According to Wikipedia, in 240BC it was the first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.  

In 1878 Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opened at the Opera Comique in London.  

In 1958 – Paul Weller, English singer, songwriter and musician (best known as a founder and frontman of The Jam and The Style Council) was born in Woking, Surrey (not too far from us), and in 1977 Star Wars was released in cinemas.

Finally.......

In 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable.

Like just about every small business in the UK, Rainbow Red has been hard at work updating its Privacy Policy to reflect our commitment to:

• meeting our data protection obligations
• being transparent about how we collect and use data
• ensuring data privacy is protected

By the very nature of our industry, we often have access to very personal information, and value the trust that clients have in us to respect their need for privacy and confidentiality.

Our Privacy Policy sets out:

1. What GDPR is
2. Who is responsible for information we hold
3. What data we collect
4. How we collect and process it lawfully
5. Why we collect and process your personal data
6. What it is used for
7. How it is kept safe
8. How long it is retained for
9. How we dispose of it
10. What would happen to the information if the company were sold or shut down
11. How we ask for your consent to be contacted using your existing data, and how you can opt out of being contacted by us
12. Your legal rights regarding the data we hold about you
13. How you can contact us with queries, requests for changes or complaints

Please CLICK HERE to read Rainbow Red's Privacy Policy.

Rainbow Red may change this policy from time to time by updating this document, and will announce these changes via Rainbow Red’s Blog, Facebook page and Twitter account.  There will also be a link to our Privacy Policy in our emails, and our Terms and Conditions document.

Rainbow Red has been in business since 2011, and we've communicated with an awful lot of people since then - which means we have accumulated an awful lot of data!  

We are currently busy working to dispose of information that does not comply with our revised Privacy Policy.

In addition, GDPR requires us to ask you whether you would like us to keep in touch with you (and hang onto your data), and if so how and how often.  

As there's only a VERY small team of us, we still have a lot of people to contact to ask for consent to retain their information, which means it could take some time before we get to you.  

So thank you for your patience!

Meanwhile, click HERE for a link to Rainbow Red's Pinterest Boards where you'll find all sorts of info about Data Protection & GDPR, plus loads of other helpful Hints & Tips on all manner of decluttering, organising and health-related topics.

Finally, to brighten your day, click HERE for a fun little video that might help make GDPR feel less stressful - enjoy!

Click here to return to Rainbow Red's website

Our Adventures in San Francisco for the 18th International Conference on Hoarding & Cluttering

2018 is turning into one heck of a memorable year!  

So far this year I've attended "Organising Matters" - the Annual conference of The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers (APDO), plus two conferences on hoarding - one in San Francisco and the other London - and am very much looking forward to a third in Edinburgh in October! 

Plus our Level 1 Professional Hoarding Practitioner training course has just been launched - starting in July 2018, with more training to follow.

Selfie on the plane

Just after APDO's conference in March, Jo Cooke (of Hoarding Disorders UK CIC), Heather Matuozzo (of Clouds End CIC) and I flew off to San Francisco, full of excitement for our adventure!

Click here for an account that we wrote for APDO's newsletter (The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers), outlining the training and conference part of our trip.

The Berkeley City Club Hotel turned out to be the perfect place to stay, as it's less than a 10 minute walk to the conference venue (the University of California Berkeley), and about a 10-15 minute walk to the local Bart train station.   The line goes straight into the City, and it's easy to get from there to the airport too, with only one change.

The ''Little Castle'' was designed by the architect Julia Morgan, and founded in 1927 as The Berkeley Women's City Club. and is a Berkeley City and California State Historical Landmark.  

It has THE most amazing swimming pool, which opens from 5am - perfect for early-bird Jo!



Highlights of the trip for me included:

• Spending a week in the company of two of the most gorgeous and compassionate women I have ever had the privilege of meeting
• Not only did we have fabulous fun every single day, the three of us got to talk for an entire week amongst ourselves and with others (who are as passionate as us) about how we can help, support and raise awareness of the dilemas faced by people affected by extreme clutter, disorganisation or hoarding - how great was that?!
• Meeting the amazing Hilary' Kacser and being mightily impressed by her memorable opening one-woman keynote performance of DisordR, The Play - a moving account of some of PakRat Patty's experiences as a hoarder
• The pre-conference training by Dr Michael Tompkins, author of “Digging Out” and “The Clinician’s Guide to Severe Hoarding – A Harm Reduction"
• Learning that the UK is actually ahead of the USA in some respects relating to hoarding.  For example, we have a National Hoarding Awareness Week, whereas campaigns are far more regionalised in the USA
• Spending quality time with some wonderful folks from the US who are all doing amazing work helping people affected by hoarding (and raising awareness of the issues associated with this debilitating subject), including Marnie Matthews of The Clutter Movement, Eileen Dacey of North Shore Elder Services (near Boston, MA); Christa Tipton of NASWCA Technology Council & Orange County Task Force on Hoarding and Jette Selberg from the San Francisco Bay area.
• Getting my photo taken with the compulsory hippy flowers in my hair - well, Berkeley was where the movement started, so it had to be done! (thank you Jette for being so thoughtful!)
• Visiting the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco
• Catching one of the famous cable cars (in the pouring rain!), and having a yummy meal in China Town
• Strolling around art galleries in Oakland 
• Enjoying eating our way around the World, with delicious food from places like Japan, Korea, Mexico, USA, China, Burma and Eritraea - to name but a few!
• The fabulous in-flight service from Virgin Atlantic - especially coming home!

Jo, Hilary, Heather, Cherry

So, it's now time to start planning our trip for the next conference.  Sadly I've just missed the 4th Annual Hoarding of Animals Conference in Danvers, Massachusetts (which would have been fascinating), but watch out San Francisco, we'll definitely be back!

Heather, Dr Michael A. Tompkins, Cherry, Jo

Marnie, Cherry, Christa, Jette, Jo, Heather, Eileen

Click here to return to Rainbow Red's website

Professional Hoarding Practitioner Training - developing the next generation

Our new PROFESSIONAL HOARDING PRACTITIONER training was launched at The National Hoarding Conference on Monday 14th May, at the start of Hoarding Awareness Week 2018 



Click on the video to find out about it, or read on...

Cherry Rudge (founder of Rainbow Red and creator of the Hoarding Ice-Breaker Form) is delighted to once again have joined forces with fellow pioneering hoarding expert Heather Matuozzo of Clouds End CIC, to create specialist training designed to develop the next generation of Professional Hoarding Practitioners.

This time we're absolutely thrilled to be joined by fellow Hoarding Practitioner Specialist
Jo Cooke of Hoarding Disorders UK CIC, author of the go-to book "Understanding Hoarding".

Our new Level One course builds on the historical and highly successful Hoarding Awareness Training that was run for Members of The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers back in 2014.  Here's what people said about it:

"The 'Working with Hoarders' training day today in Reigate was brilliant! Thank you both Cherry and Heather (and Andy and Vassoulla). I feel my understanding of my work is improved whether I eventually work with serious hoarding or not."

"Very insightful and I believe a must for everybody working with hoarders or contemplating to do so.  

What a brilliant day!   Thanks so much." 

Thanks Heather and Cherry - found it very useful, not least as it really brought home what 

working with hoarders might involve."

Our Level One training another a one day course, once again designed to give professional practitioners an insight into the types of challenges that are likely to be faced when working with people affected by extreme clutter.  

Topics include:

• Identifying the traits of hoarders
• Hoarding disorder - mental illness & other health challenges
• Conducting interviews and assessments & report writing
• Introducing the Clutter Image Rating Scale
• Information from the Fire & Rescue Service about:
• Fire safety and how to prevent fires in the home
• Safe and Well visits (formerly known as Home Fire Safety visits), and follow-up actions
• Legal aspects including The Care Act 2014
• Safeguarding and Self-Neglect
• Social housing and Hoarding Taskforces / working with multiple-agencies
• Social Services, direct payments, etc
• Eviction and re-housing
• Practical challenges – getting rid of stuff, short-term storage, etc
• Hoarder support and self-help groups
• Safeguarding ourselves as Professional Practitioners

By the end of the day, attendees will have a better understanding of some of the complexities they’d be letting themselves in for by working with people who live with extreme amounts of clutter, and be better placed to decide whether it makes sense for them personally, or for their business. 

Our aim is to build a community of professional friends and colleagues who follow common best practices when working with people affected by hoarding behaviours, and support each other through what can be challenging and sometimes emotionally draining experiences. 

Cherry, Heather and Jo are all Accredited as trainers by The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) and NCFE.

Cost:  £175, including refreshments and lunch, plus a FREE one hour mentoring session. 

Dates & Venues:   

• London
• Wednesday 11th July 2018 - Wimbledon
• Other dates to be confirmed
• Birmingham 
• Dates to be confirmed
• Leeds 
• Dates to be confirmed

To book or for more information, please contact Jo Cooke:

• Email:   jo@hoardingdisordersuk.org
• Phone:  07950 364798

Click here to return to Rainbow Red's website