Laura Dent of So Fresh & So Clean shares her big idea for International Ideas Month!

March is International Ideas Month and we’re asking businesses around Swindon to share what their latest big idea is for them. Today we’re talking to Laura Dent of So Fresh & So Clean which is a commercial and carpet cleaning company covering Swindon and Wiltshire.

Recently they have moved into more specialist cleaning and are qualified for all things biohazard. Laura and her team have also chosen to specialise in the mental health crises cleaning sector.

You may have heard about the specialist work we do within the mental health sector, returning homes to a safe space is an integral part of the healing journey when suffering with a mental health illness or condition which affects mobility.

More than 15 million people (30% of the UK population) live with one or more long-term conditions, and more than 4 million of these people will also have mental health problems. People with long-term physical conditions are likelier to have lower well-being scores than those without. According to Hoarding Disorders UK, between 2.5% and 6% of the population is affected by a hoarding disorder.

When suffering with a mental health illness or mobility restriction, day to day housework tasks can be extremely overwhelming to keep on top of, if this carries on long term with no external help, people often find themselves ending up living in extreme conditions.

We often find when people are ready to reach out and ask for help, which is a huge step, the other barrier for many then becomes affordability.

These types of cleans can be expensive due to the specialist equipment, materials, disposal, and training that goes into it, although we would love to be able to provide them for free, it is not sustainable to keep providing these essential services.

This month we have come up with a bold idea, to commit to allocating a proportion of our profits to help fund these services, launching #CleanBeginnings.

Our new and existing clients can now be part of something incredible. They will be part of supporting so many people who desperately need these lifeline services within our local community.

Although it’s a great idea to put some of our money back into the community, if we want to continue serving our clients short term and long term we need to get more creative in how we can fund these services, we are looking for anyone working within the mental health sector or organisations that has more knowledge in fundraising that could help us achieve more, if this is you, please reach out.

Find out more about Laura and So Fresh & So Clean at https://sofreshandsoclean.org.uk/