15-19 May 

This is a stakeholder awareness campaign across the political, health and social care communities to raise awareness of the risks associated with hoarding. The week is the 9th annual campaign to raise awareness of the issue. The website hoardingawarenessweek.org.uk is run by Clouds End CIC.

The aims of Hoarding Awareness Week are to:

• Highlight the need for finding and training those who can support people who hoard in the community
• Encourage greater partnership working to assess, support and resolve cases where people who demonstrate a tendency to hoard or clutter are identified.

Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) – a multiagency partnership of agencies across the county involved in safeguarding adults, working together to raise awareness and promoting positive support of adults who may need help to maintain safe and habitable homes.

The same week is Mental Health Awareness Week and we know that hoarding and self-neglect have a significant impact on people’s well-being. You can see more about this here mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week.

NSAB, which includes the wider Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System, strongly encourage working together and sharing information to reduce the risks that are presented.

Norfolk has a multi-agency self-neglect and hoarding strategy, and also a recently refreshed Practitioner Guide (a toolkit including practical tips) – there is a dedicated page on the website where you can find these and more information:

Self-neglect and hoarding | Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board

Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership have recorded a podcast...

..listen to a discussion with Anthony Douglas, Independent Chair of the Suffolk partnership, thinking about self-neglect and hoarding in the context of a historic case he worked on. He talks about how times have changed and back then they just cleaned the house whereas now we take a more holistic view and recognise the mental health and other factors at play.

Listen to the podcast here:

Self-neglect and hoarding plus advice for professionals 

The pack below gives lots of suggestions of ways to take part in the week, including links to free online seminars each day – we ask you to take it into your organisations, look at and implement some of the actions, raise awareness of the impact of this important issue, and reflect on the current approaches to support.

2023 Hoarding Week Involvement Pack

Let us know if NSAB can promote anything you do during this week [email protected] or tag us @NorfolkSAB

Norwich City Council and St Martin's Trust, who are working together on a 'Safe and Habitable Homes' project in the Norwich area, have created these great graphics to support the campaign:

1. People who live in a cluttered environment may avoid contact with or help from others due to shame or fear.

2. Hoarding often starts as a way to deal with trauma but over time can become overwhelming. Sometimes people who hoard also have a diagnosed hoarding disorder.

3. Excessive items can create a trip hazard leading to falls. There is also an increased fire risk if there are large amounts of combustible material or where escape routes are obstructed. You can find the relevant advice by following these links: How to prevent a fall - Norfolk County Council & Request a home fire safety visit in Norfolk - Norfolk County Council