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

"Understanding Hoarding" - by Jo Cooke

"Understanding Hoarding" by Jo Cooke is the first book of its kind in the UK that''s been written by a British author (most of the other books about hoarding have originated in the US).

If, like me, your life has been touched or changed by hoarding behaviours and you'd like to understand more about it, then I encourage you to invest in this book - it's been compared to the international works of Steketee, Frost et al, all of whom are experts and published authors on the subject.

Jos' book is easy to read, sensitively written, empathetic and practical, and includes contributions and case studies from hoarders themselves, families of hoarders, professional practitioners, the Fire & Rescue Service and others.

Jo Cooke of
Hoarding Disorders UK CIC

Jo's insight into the world of hoarding comes as a result of being the daughter of a hoarder - as am I.  

It lead her to eventually set up a specialist social enterprise called Hoarding Disorders UK CIC (Community Interest Company) based in Newbury, Berkshire, as well as two (currently) hoarding support groups.

I hadn't read the book prior to it being launched, and have been absolutely delighted by it - it really does live up to one of the reviews on Amazon, written within only two days of the book being published:



"The definitive book on understanding hoarding.   It is both an easy read and beautifully written. It will become the bible for people affected by hoarding. Hoarders themselves, families of hoarders, and people that come into contact with hoarders such as social workers, housing officers, the fire services and many others.

As well as addressing what is hoarding and why people hoard it gives good advice on decluttering and sustainability.

Jo writes in an easy style with a great deal of commonsense, knowledge and passion.Everything you need to know is in this book, the complete guide."  

Very sadly many children of hoarders fall out with their parents; the stuff can tear resentful families apart.

I wish it had been available as I was growing up, so that I could have learned what might be behind my controlling father's habits.  It would have given me the knowledge to look beyond the stuff and work towards developing a stronger and more emotionally rewarding relationship with him. 

In later life he developed Alzheimer's, which made caring for him (and then clearing out his house once he'd died) a time consuming, financially draining and emotional roller coaster of a journey.

Jo very kindly invited me to contribute to "Understanding Hoarding", and has even credited me in the acknowledgement at the beginning, for which I'm truly grateful!  

So I must thank some very special people, without whom my contributions to the book would not have been possible.

Firstly, my client Peter - for allowing me to tell his story.  Next, Sheena Crankson and Felix Pring of FAST Minds ADHD Support Group in Kingston-upon-Thames - for their support in helping me create the diagram (below) for the book.  

It's designed to give people an insight into the thought processes of the ADHD Brain in the context of organising, clutter, disorganisation and hoarding, and has been well received by people with ADHD.

The day after "Understanding Hoarding" was published, a lady who has the condition (as do members of her family) asked if it would be OK to take it to school to show the teachers, to help them understand how difficult and debilitating it can be to have ADHD/ADD.

Members of my local ADHD support group were very excited to see the difficulties they have with clutter and disorganisation shown in picture form (because pictures paint a thousand words).

Heather Matuozzo of Clouds End CIC (founder of the first social enterprise in England specialising in hoarding behaviours) has been a great mentor and friend on my personal and professional development journey, and has also made an invaluable contribution to Jo's book.

And finally, I must thank my late parents - without whom I would not be writing this blog now.

I will always be grateful to Jo Cooke for allowing me to contribute to her wonderful book, and for empowering readers to look at their possessions, other people's possessions and other people's lives differently.  

Because hoarding isn't about the stuff, it's about the people.

Historical Hoarding Training for Professional Organisers

On Friday 28th November 2014, 

history was made 

Around 10% of the Membership of The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers UK (apdo-uk) came together with fire officers for the UK's first ever Hoarding Awareness Training for Professional Organisers - a fun, warts and all day designed to help people decide whether they want to take on the types of challenges associated with helping people affected by hoarding.

The event was held at Surrey Fire & Rescue Service's HQ in Reigate, and was led by Heather Matuozzo of Clouds End CIC and Cherry Rudge of Rainbow Red, advisors to The Chief Fire Officers Association's (CFOA) Hoarding Working Group.

Heather gave a fascinating insight into Hoarding Disorder - which was classified as a mental illness in The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM5) published in May 2013 - and outlined typical traits of individuals with hoarding behaviours; the necessity to be a detective when assessing and working with them - in order to discover what the underlying reasons are for the hoarding - and ideas for motivating people to help them with decision-making.

  

Andy Honey of Clouds End CIC described examples of complex hoarding cases involving a multi-agency approach, and outlined options for inspiring people to disposal of unwanted items, whilst Cherry showed outlined processes, stakeholder complexities and possible risks involved when multiple agencies are involved. 

Professional organisers thinking of working with individuals with hoarding tendencies were left under no illusion about how overwhelming and time consuming it can sometimes be when working with them.  

Bryn Strudwick - Group Commander, Community Safety Manager of Surrey Fire & Rescue Service - outlined examples of fire safety dangers associated with hoarding, and what can be done to reduce the risks.  Shocking photos demonstrated where people hadn't appreciated the risks to them and their homes.  

Delegates were given a copy of Surrey Fire & Rescue Service's brand new Multi Agency DVD Staff Training Package, entitled Keeping YOU Safe from Fire Campaign.  The pack is designed to help agencies work with them to protect vulnerable people in Surrey living in the community from the risks fire.

Vasoulla Saviddou - who appeared on TV in Britain's Biggest Hoarders in 2012 - gave a fascinating insight into her personal experiences of having hoarding behaviours, and how it felt for her to have professional organisers helping her.

Heather commented: "Many thanks to Bryn Srudwick for organising a 'groundbreaking' and 'pioneering' training session - combining some natural partners for helping people with hoarding issues."

Final thought…

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person’s life.

For better or for worse….

Delegate feedback

"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." 

"The info day at Reigate was just great. So informative and interesting.  I'm so glad I managed to get there."   

"Thanks Heather and Cherry - found it very useful, not least as it really brought home what working with hoarders might involve."

Further hoarding awareness training for professional organisers planning on working with hoarders is planned, in association with Fire & Rescue Services across the UK.  

For information please contact Heather Matuozzo or Cherry Rudge.

A grand day out at the Hammersmith Hoarding event on 15th October 2014

It was all go on the apdo-uk stand at Wednesday’s Hoarding event at Hammersmith Town Hall (15th October 2014), where I was representing apdo-uk. People literally queued up to find out about the services of professional organisers!

apdo-uk’s stand was located immediately inside the main entrance to the hall, so it was impossible to miss us! A steady stream of guests started arriving from 9.30am, and my last consultation of the day finished at about 6.15pm (even though the event officially finished at 4pm!)!

It was good to meet probationary apdo-uk member Trio Wilson of Clear Space for Me who visited from Oxford, and I have to give a special thank you to fellow member Caroline Vienot of The Passionate Organiser for helping out on the stand and answering questions for a while when it got too busy – otherwise goodness knows what time I’d have got out of there!

Social Worker Fiona Harding of
Hammersmith & Fulham
Adult Social Care Team
with apdo-uk Member
Heather Matuozzo of Clouds End CIC

Whilst I didn’t get a chance to go round and see any of the stands, I’m told by Head of apdo-uk’s Hoarding Advisory Team Heather Matuozzo (of Clouds End CIC) that there were multiple agencies represented at the event, including social services, mental health (MIND), London Fire Brigade, the local Hoarding Support Group, Orbit Housing Services, clearance company Just Clear and a gentleman who was explaining about ways of selling unwanted items online.

Social Worker Fiona Harding of Hammersmith & Fulham Adult Social Care Team was there - she's co-author of an article entitled "Developing an Approach to Working with Hoarding: Space for Social Work" 

On the apdo-uk stand we had enquiries from all sorts of people including social workers, occupational therapists and community nurses from across all three Boroughs hosting the event (Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, and City of Westminster), and we also heard some very interesting experiences about and from quite a number of hoarders!

People were keen to learn about the Clutter Image Rating Scale which was devised by pioneering psychologists Dr Gail Steketee and Dr Randy O. Frost in the USA as a way to measure the degree of clutter in the kitchen, living rooms and bedrooms of hoarders homes.  It has been adopted as a best practice gauge by agencies all over the world who support hoarders, including social services and Fire & Rescue Services.

There was also interest in how to take part in hoarding research being done by Professor Paul Salkovskis, Dr James Gregory and Dr. Claire Lomax at the University of Bath. 

Plus, of course, the usual “where/how do I start decluttering?!”

One particularly interesting and relevant conversation was about DBS checks (what used to be CRB checks) and whether it is compulsory for professional organisers to have one - which currently it isn’t. However, it was made clear to me that anyone working with hoarders and vulnerable adults should definitely consider getting DBS checked if they want to get work from councils. Certainly Heather makes it compulsory for anyone working for Clouds End CIC to have a DBS check; fortunately, she can arrange this service as Clouds End is a Social Enterprise company.

At lunchtime author James Wallman gave a short talk about his book “Stuffocation”, and Heather gave a very well received Clutter Clinic talk, which resulted in a stream of people coming straight to visit the apdo-uk stand afterwards – whatever you said, thank you Heather!

BEFORE

AFTER

In the absence of apdo-uk leaflets to give out, I had to use my own business cards - as you can see, quite a few were taken during the day!  

Hoarding Awareness Training for Professional Organisers in the UK - 28th Nov 2014

Are you a professional organiser who works with hoarders? 

Or have you thought of becoming a professional organiser and working with hoarders, but want some reassurance before giving it a go?

Then please join Cherry Rudge of Rainbow Red and Heather Matuozzo of Clouds End CIC on Friday 28th November 2014 for a special training day aimed at helping professional organisers understand and cope with some of the challenges we face when working with people affected by extreme clutter.  

Cherry and Heather represent The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers UK (apdo-uk) on the Chief Fire Officers Association’s (CFOA) Hoarding Working Group, which organised the first ever UK Hoarding Awareness Week in 2013.

CFOA's Hoarding Working Group is working to create integrated best practices amongst the UK Fire and Rescue Service, professional organisers and other agencies working with hoarders.

Surrey Fire & Rescue Service (who are also Members of CFOA’s Hoarding Working Group) have kindly agreed to host the day at their Reigate HQ, and are keen to raise awareness of the safety issues relating to hoarding; they will give an overview of how professional organisers, hoarders, the emergency services and other key stakeholders can work together to reduce the risk of fire or accident in a hoarder’s home. 

 

The day will cover a wide range of topics including:

• Identifying the traits of hoarders
• Hoarding disorder - mental illness & other health challenges
• Conducting interviews and assessments & report writing
• Using the Clutter Image Rating Scale
• A talk by representatives from Surrey Fire & Rescue Service’s Fire Investigation & Community Safety Management teams about:
• home fire safety visits, and follow-up actions taken if there is extreme clutter
• hoarding protocols
• A hoarder’s experience of working with professional organisers, support services (eg. social services), therapists, etc
• Social housing & Hoarding Taskforces
• 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 organisers

There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and share knowledge and experiences – please help us make the day as interactive as possible; our aim is to end up with a network of professional friends and colleagues who follow common best practices when working with hoarders, and support each other through what can be challenging and draining experiences.

 

 Date:               Friday 28th November 2014

 

 Time:               Registration from 9.30am for a 10am start

                        Estimated finish time: 4pm

 

 Venue:             Surrey Fire & Rescue Service HQ, REIGATE, Surrey 

                        (A map will be sent to you once your booking is confirmed)

 

 Costs:              apdo-uk Members:             £70

                        Non-apdo-uk Members:     £100

 

Refreshments:    Tea, coffee & biscuits will be provided. 

                        Feel free to bring your own herbal/decaffeinated, drinks.

                        Please bring your own lunch as there is no canteen on site. 

                                                 

Spaces are limited to about 20, so book early to avoid disappointment. 

If you miss out this time, don't worry - we're going on tour with this training around the UK, so we'll hopefully be coming to a town near you soon - certainly before UK Hoarding Awareness Week 2015.  

To reserve your place or for more information, please contact Heather Matuozzo (Clouds End CIC) or Cherry Rudge (Rainbow Red).

                                     

We look forward to seeing you on November 28th for what promises to be an exciting, honest and revealing warts-and-all day of camaraderie 

and FUN!