A Letter from the Chair
Too darn hot…
As we move towards autumn, the season that scorched will likely become the ‘summer of 2026’. In years to come the memories will not be of the swelter or drought, instead of the sunshine and sandals.
I think disruptive could be a word used for this past season. The world in many ways has erupted. Nature, certainly. Politics, definitely. The only thing we can be certain of is uncertainty.
For us, as HoardingUK, so many positive things have occurred. You’ll read about our project with UKGov. This important piece of work finally creates clear guidance. We’re proud to have been a part of developing it. We have turned it into a printed booklet. If you would like to order copies, please do so here (we’re asking the postage costs to be covered).
Additionally, our team continues the rebuild so magnificently from the troubled times that HUK experienced under our previous leadership. As with other disasters, it takes time and focus.
We have a full cohort of volunteers and staff and are expanding this. Our services are all fully operational, and we are expanding capacity. We have a waiting list for our helpline; we want that taken down and it will be.
One of the ways we make a difference is by people who know, the real experts, providing support to those who need it. While we are, due to the efforts of our wonderful staff and volunteers, in the strongest position we have ever been – we need your help to stay strong and grow stronger.
Because I agreed to blather on about myself and my work for the Morgan Hunt ‘Inspiring Lives’ podcast (I thought a podcast was vocal so please forgive my ‘Transcend Labels’ T-shirt and bad hair), they have agreed to recruit trustees for us on a pro-bono basis.
So many people are impacted by hoarding behaviour, it is that lived experience as a person with, a person around or a person supporting professionally that REALLY makes the difference. If you are interested in more general volunteering, please click here.
After this tumultuous summer (year?, years?) it feels appropriate to end with the words of someone who seemingly universally inspired “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” Dolly Parton 1946-2026
– Megan
HUK’s next User Involvement Meeting has arrived!
18 September, 14:30-15:30 – Online via Teams
Sign up to join the upcoming User Involvement Meeting this September if you have ideas or suggestions for our charity’s future. Have a say in the support systems that already exist or propose new services that you believe will create positive and lasting change to the hoarding community.
Please use the link below to register! It’s free!
Choosing a different path:
Sheila’s Story
More Than Clutter:
Turning lived experience into meaningful change.
HoardingUK’s founder and chair Megan Karnes sits down with Dan Taylor in an episode of ‘Inspiring Working Lives’. She shares her journey from her humble start volunteering in the mental health sector, establishing HoardingUK in her living room to making meaningful change at the national level.
Megan and Dan discuss why hoarding is far more than clutter, the ways that Megan and our HUK team are working to reduce and challenge stigma around hoarding behaviours and how compassion can work alongside purpose in organisations.
‘Inspiring Working Lives‘ is available now on your favourite podcast apps.
A Fire Safety Checklist for homes with hoards
In the early months of 2026, I was invited to discuss and offer guidance on a project led by Tavi Johnson (head of the Change Behaviour for the Better organisation); a project which aimed to produce a Fire Safety Checklist for homes with hoards.
After meeting and discussing the project with the team, I quickly saw the potential benefits of producing a Fire Safety document for professionals in the emergency services or groups and agencies who deal with the minefield of complexities daily. My experience in the roles of Operational Watch Manager, Lead Community Safety Advisor, Safeguarding Coordinator for Gloucester Fire & Rescue Service as well as my own personal experiences in working with hoarding, anxiety, depression and ADHD related cases made me suitable to advise and support Tavi and the team.
Several months of meetings and hard work later, we achieved what we were looking for: the Fire Safety document was deemed as ‘fit for purpose’ in the best interest of those who require training and support around hoarding, finally ready to be distributed to the relevant agencies.
I worked with Tavi to ensure that this document uses the correct terminology and a person-centred approach that is easy to understand. For those in the front-line services (professionals who visit hoarded homes), this document is a guide in how to assist and not offend through a lack of understanding of the subject matter.
The skill sets that an individual needs to move forward (and possibly succeed) can be built through long-term engagement with professional support. Skills like decision making and problem-solving can be encouraged and enabled, for example:
- Through collaboration, by professionals not taking control of any decision process, by doing the hard work together.
- By focusing on safety, through discussions with individual(s) at risk using positive risk assessments.
- By building trust, by working at the correct pace that allows the person involved to feel safe and at the centre of any decisions being made.
- By using the SMART theory or agreed Plan of Action to support ‘success’.
I am so pleased to have contributed as part of this team, the experience from start to finish has been extremely positive and the document will now be used to educate, support and train the professionals around hoarding.
– Paul Barrett
Award-Winning Animation & Hoarding Awareness Toolkit
Your Online Training & Communities
Choice and Control in Hoarding Behaviour Training
Professionals who attend this workshop will have the opportunity to learn more about approaches to supporting people with hoarding behaviours. This training deals with balancing outside intervention with maintaining an individual’s choice and control.
Motivational Interviewing Training
Attendees will explore the key components to Motivational Interviewing techniques, work through case studies and discover ways that can facilitate behavioural changes for people who hoard.
Join us for an inspiring Motivational Interviewing Open Day on Thursday, 25th September, from 10:00-16:30, and enhance your skills!
Place in the Space Support Group
These monthly psychological and practical support sessions offer a safe space to anyone who hoards who wants to work on managing their space and wellbeing. Please consider joining, no one is required at any point in these sessions to let go of any item explored.
Family, Friends and Others Support Groups
At the request of many, HUK has launched an online support group for family, friends and others who are not professionals to get support, then in turn better support people who hoard. For more information about the impact we’re making, read about here in this Guardian article.
User Involvement Group Meetings
This event is intended for HoardingUK users, including people who have utilised our services or attended our training courses.
If you are a user and have suggestions about how we can improve our services, we encourage you to join us here and give your valued feedback.
HUK Helpline
Sign up for 27 45-minute sessions on a weekly, fortnightly and then monthly basis through our Helpline. We offer the service free of charge, but are asking people to make a donation of any amount to support our important work.
Michaela
Reviewing Choice and Control in Hoarding Behaviour
Very informative, interactive course. Opportunities to network with professionals in similar roles to information share too.”