August Newsletter
Raising Funds
Raise funds for the charities you care about and protect the environment in one fell swoop! HoardingUK is teaming up with Recycle4Charity – a free and easy-to-use program providing a unique win-win opportunity to help the environment by responsibly disposing of your printer’s used ink cartridges while also raising funds for charities and non-profits.
Here’s how it’s done:
1. Print your free postage label from the Recycle4Charity website.
2. Choose HoardingUK as the beneficiary.
3. Prepare for posting by attaching your free postage label to any envelope or box. All ink cartridges sent must have a combined donation value of £2 or more. Use Recycle4Charity’s lookup tool to confirm your cartridges’ values, and consider pooling with friends or family if needed.
4. Post your empty cartridges via letterbox or post office.
Once Recycle4Charity has received and processed your donation, the funds produced will be received by HoardingUK.
Thank You Laura
The Trustees of HoardingUK would like to thank Laura Horton for her support of our work. Aside from walking an incredible 700+ miles, regular updates via the newsletter and the monies raised, she has with her talent been one of the most humanising voices for people with hoarding behaviour.
Thank you Laura for your incredible support for HoardingUK.
We are grateful to those contributing through Laura’s JustGiving page and direct donations to HUK, she has successfully raised £840 so far! To show your support, please consider clicking the button below.
Nothing can beat the feeling of making it to the top, sitting and taking in the twinkling sea, the sounds of the sea birds and lush green scenery.
Healing
When the symptom of the anxiety, trauma and the other intersectional challenges found within Hoarding is reordered, cleared or blitzed – what is left is the person still holding the unseen debris.
Carrying out these actions while solving only practical problems is not treatment. It is mistreatment.
Now, the manifestation of the invisible within hoarding is often, unfortunately, extremely observable. The risks to self and others can be over the threshold of safe and, at times, habitable.
What is being done alleviates neither, as the expression of despair manifested within the space often returns after superficial spatial disencumberance.
HoardingUK has worked over these seventeen years to provide holistic mental health and practical support which has consistently empowered people with hoarding behaviour and those who, while often pushed into the reactive position of intervention, only really want to support to create space and heal.
Healing.
Ultimately it is not delivered by others, instead originates from the place inside us that has weathered the storm(s). But…with the balance of inner resilience and assistance that truly frees… we can get there. Together… and we will.
-Megan
My Body, My Book Club
My Body, My Book Club is a feminist book club focused on bodily autonomy, with all profits going to a “charity of the month” that matches the theme.
HoardingUK is the the bookclub’s chosen charity for September, and we are grateful for My Body, My Book Club’s dedication to raising awareness for this important cause.
Excitingly, My Body, My Book Club will examine Dr. Deborah Derrickson Kossmann’s beautiful memoir, “Lost Found Kept”, about her relationship with her mother, who struggled with hoarding behaviours at the next upcoming event. It will be hosted online from 18:30-19:30 on the 4th of September 2025.
To book your spot or find out more about the My Body, My Book Club, please follow the links below.
Dr. Deborah Derrickson Kossmann
Psychologist and Writer
How does a psychologist fail to recognise that her intelligent, sensitive, and book-loving mother has had no water in her house for at least two years because of the trove of belongings overwhelming it?
In committing to help, Deborah begins the otherworldly excavation of a childhood home she hasn’t been inside for three decades.
Moving back and forth in time, recollecting her past and long buried family secrets, she seeks to untangle a web of complicated familial relationships. In her lyrical and unflinching quest, Deborah comes to understand what’s been lost, what’s been found and what’s been kept in both her own and her mother’s life.
Winner of Trio House Press’ inaugural 2023 Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award and named one of Book Page’s Best Memoirs of 2025
You can find this book on Amazon, Books Express, Foyles, Waterstones, and various other platforms.
Are you a healthcare or mental health professional?
Do you have experience working with Hoarding Disorder?
Are you a GP, emergency doctor, general nurse, mental health nurse, psychiatrist, psychologist, or a student in any of these fields?
Karen Towey is conducting a Hoarding Disorder Research Study on Perceptions of Motivational Interventions as part of her MSc course on people’s perceptions and experiences of working with individuals who have Hoarding Disorder.
Use your experience in the field to make a positive impact that will help improve understanding of treatment approaches for Hoarding Disorder.
Karen is seeking participants for an interview lasting approximately 1 hour. The interview will be conducted via Microsoft TEAMS to discuss experiences in this field and views on treatment and intervention.
If you are interested and want to learn more, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Karen Towey at: 30119067@students.southwales.ac.uk
The University of South Wales has ethically approved this study, and all participant data will remain confidential.
Your Online Communities
Choice and Control in Hoarding Behaviour Training
Chairing Postive Change
Motivational Interviewing Training
Join us for an inspiring Motivational Interviewing Open Day on Thursday, 25th September, from 10:00-16:30, and enhance your skills!
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.
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.
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.
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.
