CLEANING BUSINESS OWNER LAUNCHES A CHARITABLE TRUST TO SUPPORT VULNERABLE HOARDERS

Cleaning company owner and hoarding expert Laura Dent is launching a charitable foundation ‘Fresh & Clean Beginnings’ to help those vulnerable members of society living in unhygienic and potentially dangerous mental health situations and who cannot see a way out of it.

The businesswoman has been running So Fresh & So Clean with her husband Neil for several years, building it up by working with businesses across Swindon and Wiltshire on commercial cleaning contracts. 

However it was only when Laura and her team trained and offered biohazard and extreme cleaning in domestic and business environments that she realised there was a need to do more to help hoarders, particularly those with mental health issues. 

Laura said: “This type of cleaning is expensive as it’s almost impossible to know what we are going to find as we remove the amount of clutter that a hoarder has accumulated.

“Some individuals and their families can afford expensive clear outs but for others it's not possible. Hoarding is more common than people realise and it is often caused by deep-seated issues. I constantly have people getting in touch for our services and asking for help but what holds them back is the cost. 

“Often these individuals are in desperate circumstances. They might have a landlord waiting to evict them due to the state of the property, for example. My experience has taught me that some people need urgent help to prevent them from being made homeless and they can be stuck in a terrible situation. 

“It’s why we will be channeling some of our profits into launching a charity to help those in my community who need it most. I’m passionate about helping the vulnerable in our society who are struggling with hoarding or clutter.” 

The company, which is part of the Living Wage foundation, is proud of its healthy work life balance for its own team. 

Laura continues: “I know we can help anyone who suffers with a hoarding disorder or in a mental health crises. We call it a mental health crisis because they’re not looking after themselves or their property. It can happen a lot with the elderly and those with mobility issues. 

“We will be working on setting up mental health collaborations too because if ongoing support isn’t provided then their home will end up in the same condition again. 

“We’re actively looking to speak to individual from mindset coaches to hypnotherapists, professionals with very different skill sets. If businesses with aligned skills can work together locally you can make a massive difference.

“Since the pandemic I don’t want to just chase money anymore – I want the money we make to do something good. I want our business to be involved in something meaningful which can genuinely change lives. I’m determined to make this work locally and, later, perhaps roll it out across the UK.”

Recently the So Fresh & So Clean team supported a nurse who has been diagnosed with Long Covid and their home had become too cluttered due to poor health. They were a risk of eviction.

“I found it terrible to consider that this person, who had given so much at the height of the Covid pandemic, was now living in this situation, their health an issue and their lack of mobility leading to living in a terrible situation. They were so embarrassed to reach out to us and explain what had happened. We were able to support this person, get their home back to a clean and healthy state and they said we’d changed her life.”

 For more information about Fresh & Clean Beginnings: visit www.sofreshandsoclean.org.uk