Clutter Chat is a self help group for people with chronic clutter and hoarding habits. Our regular meetings, currently online and in person, enable people to meet and talk without shame about their situation, and with the encouragement and knowledge of the group we support each other to move forward with clearing out stuff. At each meeting members are asked to make a commitment to some action towards their goal, at the start of each meeting we check in on how we have done with our commitments. This has been an important motivation and accountability that has helped group members move forward with their clutter.
We have made contact with the team revising the Glasgow Hoarding Protocol, and hope to contribute to the revised protocol, and give the views of those with chronic clutter and hoarding habits a place in this revision.
Clutter can be an issue with fire safety, and with general health and safety as accumulations may restrict the ease of moving around the home, there may also be problems with infestations of insects or rodents.. This can cause issues with others, neighbours, landlords etc.
Clutter chat has had a transformative effect on the lives of many people who have come to the group, enabling them to clear out their own clutter, engage with others - family, cleaners and de-clutterers to clear out stuff. We want to share the benefits we have found in our approach with more people.
We have in person meetings fortnightly on Tuesday evenings in Glasgow, we hope to have these combined with Zoom. We also have fortnightly Zoom meetings on Friday morning.
After a successful grant application we took on a Development Worker 7 hours a week who has organised training for our Peer Supporters, who lead the meetings, developed a manual for Peer Supporters, and done networking and outreach to Housing Associations and service providers in Glasgow.