UK Landlord Magazine - May 2018 - Why hoarding matters

The May 2018 issue of UK Landlord Magazine (published by The National Landlords Association - NLA) includes an interview with Cherry Rudge of Rainbow Red about how landlords should tread carefully when faced with problematic amounts of stuff caused by hoarding behaviours.   

The article tied in with Hoarding Awareness Week, and suggests approaches landlords should take if they discover tenants who exhibit hoarding behaviours that affect:

1. the safety of people living in the property (or that of neighbours and others in the community)
2. the functionality of the home
3. the tenant's ability to abide by their tenancy agreements

The article recommends landlords consider the S.M.I.L.E. acronym, as an empathetic person-centred approach is proven to be far more effective than putting a vulnerable person (who may be self-neglecting) through the trauma of a forced clear-out or eviction proceedings.

• Safety first 
• Mental health and well-being 
• Imagine how you’d want to be treated if the tables were turned
• Levels on the Clutter Image Rating Scale (CIR) 
• Emotions, empathy and empowerment

Cherry - who is the daughter of a hoarder - was invited to contribute to the magazine, after attending two days of NLA training - a Foundation course and a Safer Homes.

To read the article, click here.

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

Recycle, shop online & donate to The Firefighters Charity

One of my top highlights of 2014 was visiting the Houses of Parliament in May to help launch the first ever UK Hoarding Awareness Week, organised by the Hoarding Working Group of the Chief Fire Officers Association, of which I'm a member.  

As a result I'm also now working closely with Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, which has well and truly opened my eyes and given me a much greater understanding and appreciation of the extraordinary lengths the Fire & Rescue Services (FRS) go to to try and prevent fires and accidents, as well as fight them.

Neenaw! Just £5.00 buys a toy fire engine

Which is why I'm doing my bit to support The Fire Fighters Charity, not only by buying Christmas cards and gifts from them, but also by promoting their recycling services - something very relevant to decluttering!

Things like textile recycling, door to door clothing collections, and printer cartridge recycling helps them raise money towards the £9 million pounds per year it costs to support serving and retired members of the fire and rescue community when they are in need. 

For example, the charity runs three rehabilitation and recouperation centres; a help-line; a magazine; health, well being and welfare services, plus local support for people in their homes.

So please help me help our brave firefighters and their families by giving a donation, buying something from their online shop, or depositing your unwanted items at Fire Fighters Charity textile banks at fire stations, community sites and supermarkets across the UK (they're bright yellow with the Charity's logo on them so you can't miss them!).  Enter your postcode here (scroll down to get to the table) to find your nearest bank.

With your help we can make life easier for the wonderful people who help protect and save us, and help recycle and re-use our planet's precious resources at the same time.

Thank you.

Cherry 

Clutter/disorganisation & Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Aspergers, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)

A friend very kindly sent me a recent article from The Guardian newspaper, entitled "A letter to my son....whose flat is filty - the letter you always wanted to write".

The article is in the style of a letter from a Mum to her son, and highlighted for me something I've seen a lot of since I've been a professional organiser: that some of my clients who have difficulty coping with clutter or disorganisation show symptoms related to being on the Autism Spectrum (also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD).

And yet - for the most part - my clients don't seem to know it; instead, they often struggle with things like Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, depression or anxiety due to low self-esteem, partly due to their inability to be what I've heard some of them describe as "normal". 

I've heard comments like "I want to have an immaculate house like my neighbours, but I can't seem to get my head around organising things or keeping regular routines" or "people tell me I need to do this or that, but it makes me feel upset and pressured because I find it so difficult to do what others seem to find easy."

Not once have my clients ever said they've been tested for or diagnosed with Autism - a condition that affects more than 10% of adults (about 588,000 people in the UK today) - ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

I find it desperately sad that so many people slip through the diagnosis net - mostly because little was known about Autism and/or ADD/ADHD when they were younger; they've been left to fend for themselves, without the right kind of help or support, or - most likely - were either too embarassed to ask for help, or didn't know there was help available in the first place. 

I belong to The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers (apdo-uk), which published a newsletter with useful guidelines for helping people with ADHD get organised.

One of apdo-uk's advisors - Jan Assheton - provides coaching solutions and training relating to ADHD and Asperger's. Jan says "The condition rarely exists alone and may be diagnosed alongside Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Depression, Anxiety, Asperger's, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Hoarding Disorder and Sleep/Eating Disorders."

I personally believe that many people at the chronic end of the clutter spectrum -who have hoarding disorder (a mental health condition) - are prime examples of vulnerable people affected by these types of conditions, or a combination of these and/or other physical, neurological or mental health problems.

Some hoarders in the past have been unlucky enough to end up suffering the humiliation, embarassment and trauma of having to undergo an enforced major clean-out by Environmental Health and/or eviction - expensive "solutions" which recent evidence proves can do far more harm than good to the recipient, and result in them feeling worse than ever about themselves. 

It can demotivate them from any desire to declutter.  In fact, it can result in making them hoard all over again in no time as a way of trying to control their lives and surround themselves with items to create a "comfort zone" of personal possessions that make them feel better.

Some hoarders have been known to be so traumatised by clean-outs or eviction that they've taken or attempted to take their own lives - if that's not a cry for help or in despair, I don't know what is.

A diagnosis of Autism or ADD/ADHD could have resulted in the type of practical support - for example, training, counselling and/or medication - which could have helped prevent their extreme situation from occuring in the first place, or funding for the services of empathetic, non-judgemental professional organisers to provide motivational support, advice and practical assistance.

Which is one of the reasons why I'm so committed to UK Hoarding Awareness Week, the recent campaign by The Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), which I helped to organise.  The aims of the campaign are to:

• To spread more widely an awareness of hoarding facts                       
• To promote greater understanding and acceptance across those who can influence change
• To encourage a stronger tendency for those who can influence change to support and promote at key moments.

By raising awareness of hoarding amongst the likes of GPs, mental health services, social services, Vulnerable Children and Adults Teams, Environmental Health, landlords, housing associations, Citizens Advice and the emergency services, it will hopefully reduce the number of people falling through the hoarding "net", so that they get the right type of help at the right time, and don't have to endure extreme measures which could blight the rest of their lives.

So I urge anyone who has an influence over assessing children's health to look carefully at whether they might be affected by ASD and/or ADD/ADHD; a simple diagnosis could make a HUGE difference to the quality of their lives - and the lives of their loved ones - in the future, and help them live a more cluttered, organised and stress-free life. 

To those of you responsible for providing support to vulnerable adults, I urge you to put yourself in their shoes, and consider having them assessed for ASD and/or ADD/ADHD before making life-changing decisions which could cost more than just money.

As the daughter of a hoarder, I thank you in advance, from the bottom of my undiagnosed ASD/ADD/ADHD heart.

++++

About Autism & ADHD

The National Autistic Society (NAS) is the UK's leading charity for people with autism and their families. According to their website, Autism condition is a complex developmental disability involving a biological or organic defect in the functioning of the brain.  It is a lifelong developmental disability with no cure; children with autism grow up to be adults with autism.

NAS says that Autism affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them. It is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support.

According to NAS, ADHD is a condition related to Autism, that makes a person inattentive, impulsive and hyperactive. An increasing number of children are diagnosed as having both ADHD and autism. Some parents are apparently only diagnosed with ADHD after their children have been diagnosed with autism.

http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/related-conditions/adhd-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder.aspx

NAS has developed a framework for understanding and responding to the needs of children and adults on the autism spectrum. The framework is also useful in identifying underlying issues, reducing the disabling effects of the condition and providing a cornerstone for communication. It also forms the basis of all autism-specific staff training and an ethical basis for intervention. The acronym for this framework is SPELL. SPELL stands for Structure, Positive (approaches and expectations), Empathy, Low arousal, Links.

For more information about Autism, Asperger's and ADD/ADHD:

• National Autistic Society - www.autism.org.uk
• Jan Assheton - www.janassheton.co.uk
• National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service www.addiss.co.uk.

To find a professional organiser for help with decluttering and getting organised, check out apdo-uk's website: www.apdo-uk.co.uk