ARCH has been contacted by HoardingUK, a charity dedicated to
supporting people affected by hoarding behaviours, who are looking
to work with local authority landlords to help tackle and support
tenants and residents with hoarding behaviours who may present a
risk to themselves and others.
HoardingUK
is a UK-wide charity dedicated to supporting people affected by
hoarding behaviours which aims to empower individuals experiencing
hoarding behaviours to achieve personal change to improve their
health and wellbeing, to improve practice amongst professionals and
to raise awareness and increase understanding of hoarding
behaviours.
The problems of hoarding are increasingly being highlighted by
landlords' concerns for fire safety and the risk to residents with
serious hoarding behaviours and their neighbours and Hoarding UK
are looking to support tenants and residents with hoarding
behaviours but also help them work with housing and adult social
care for a good result for everyone.
HoardingUK are currently looking to createActivist & Support
Groupswithin Central London to do the following: -
- Set up In Person Support Groups. Hoarding UK are
aiming to create 20 support groups in and around Central London in
the next 2 years. These will be held monthly and open to people who
hoard. If they want to bring their family or carers for support,
they are welcome. These support groups are person centred and
non-judgemental, creating a safe space where people who hoard can
meet people in the same position as them, express their feelings
and, if they want and feel ready for it, receive practical support
about how to make their space safer, curb acquisition and,
ultimately, positively discard their possessions.
- Train a Peer Mentor/Activist. HoardingUK will train
a Peer Mentor for each of the support groups to co-facilitate and
eventually lead the group. This person will either have first-hand
experience with hoarding behaviours or have a close relationship
with a person who hoards. This person will be fully trained up by
HoardingUK and will gain skills in self-care/management,
self-confidence/esteem, facilitation skills, running/organising a
group, chairing meetings and project management.
- Become the Voice for Hoarding Within the Local
Community. HoardingUK will publicise the support group within
the local community and be the go-to place for: -
- People who hoard and their support network
- Adult Social Care to provide guidance on how to support people
who hoard under the Care Act 2014 to understand they have a duty to
support people with hoarding behaviour under the Care Act
(maintaining a habitable and safe home).
- Social Housing Landlords who become aware of a problematic
hoarder within their tenancies, encouraging landlords to approach
HoardingUK for support to help the individual in a holistic and
person-centred manner. HoardingUK say that even when social housing
landlords try to take on a supportive role it is rarely successful
because the person will likely see their landlord in an enforcing
role, not a supporting role which can lead them to feel under
attack, threatened, overwhelmed and ultimately they disengage.
- The Fire Service who often have a trigger point if a hoard gets
to a certain level
- Develop a "Survival Kit"including a self-help pamphlet,
available online, providing practical information and advice on how
to cope.
What could this mean for local authority
landlords?
A lot of tenants and residents with hoarding behaviour suffer
from other physical and mental conditions which leads to situations
where they rely on social housing and HoardingUK have funding to
set up support groups in the London area and hope to roll this out
around the country.
Any ARCH member councils interested in working with HoardingUK
to tackle problems of hoarding within their area are invited to
contact ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby john.bibby@arch-housing.org.uk
and we will put you in touch with HoardingUK.