Date:
Woking Borough Council is proud to support National Hoarding Awareness Week taking place from Monday 13 May to Friday 17 May.
Hoarding is a recognised mental health disorder, where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter. The items can be of little or no monetary value.
This year is the tenth anniversary of Hoarding Awareness Week, with the theme Then and Now, which reflects on how far awareness of hoarding has come. Hoarding was officially recognised as a mental health disorder in 2013, which paved an important road for the awareness of hoarding.
Next week, there are a range of online seminars being held by Clouds End social enterprise, to raise awareness of the disorder and to educate people how best to deal with it and how to support residents.
Cllr Ellen Nicholson, Portfolio Holder for Living Well at Woking Borough Council said: “It’s so important for hoarding to be recognised as a mental health disorder which can have a very negative impact on many aspects of one’s life.
“By raising awareness of the disorder, we can reduce the stigma around it and help our residents access help at the earliest opportunity.
“We are lucky to have a resident Hoarding and Decluttering Officer available to Woking residents, funded by NHS partners. If you are struggling or know someone who is, please don’t hesitate to get into contact.”
Read more about the national campaign by visiting hoardingawarenessweek.org.uk
For more information and support for residents, please visit woking.gov.uk/living-well/hoardingsupport