Hello, My name is Ashleigh, and I am a compulsive hoarder.

I called Pro house clearance after finally coming to the realization that I am a hoarder, and in serious need of help with clearing my home.

I have always been a “compulsive hoarder”, and as a youngster I always had an unpleasant bedroom, I used to hoard things that others may see as ‘crap’ that I always felt might be of use to me at a later date, even things such as bottles or Popsicle sticks.

It used to give me anxiety when being told to clean my room when I was younger, the thought of tossing out stuff that my mum deemed ‘rubbish’ would seriously upset me.

Student life proceeded in the very same way, I had held on to everything from my childhood, moving it into my student dorm with me, and later to my first flat.

I eventually became a teacher after spending many tedious years at uni, this just added to my hoarding problem as I would hoard publications, documents, and even journals after the school year ended.

Then when I purchased my very own house it all started to go downhill.

To the outside world, I was a clean cool individual who held a reputable job as a teacher, but on the inside I was progressively distressed, and not coping with the stress and anxiety, and the hoarding began to take over, there was no point of my home that hadn’t been overtaken by hoarding.

After coming to the realization that I was an extreme hoarder, I became seriously ill with anxiety and depression which forced me to take a sick leave at work, I couldn’t even step foot out of my front door, it caused me to become flooded with anxiety, and couldn’t even make it to the bins to put my rubbish out for the bin men coming, this caused my problem to get worse, and my house to become dirty with bags of food waste, that eventually took over my kitchen space.

My bedroom was the first room to become overfilled with rubbish, I would spend countless days in bed, eating takeaways, pot noodles etc, and leaving the surrounding remains, which eventually built up, causing there to be no floor space visible, and the stench finally took over.

So after that I relocated to the sofa with a sleeping bag. Tried to maintain myself as tidy as I could, however the shower and the sink soon came to be unusable.

I was “cleaning” with dry shampoo and wipes.

I honestly thought I would certainly never venture out as well as never get my home back, it all seemed too far gone for me.

The day I determined to kill myself I knew I finally needed help, I phoned a rescue and got them to come and help me, the rescue chauffeurs visibly recoiled at the smell and needed to calm me to get me outdoors.
I was admitted under a section to a psychiatric unit where I invested 8 months, working on stress and anxiety as well as hoarding behaviours.

Discharge started to be talked about, however it was clear that I couldn’t go back into my home until I had it cleared, this was one of the conditions of my discharge from the unit.

With the help of the organization, I emailed several companies, I explained over email in great detail exactly what needed to be done, and explained that I had severe phone anxiety, which only allowed me to discuss everything over email.

I had several emails back, some tried to call me anyhow, and some estimated me rates I could never have actually afforded.

After that, Anthony from Pro house clearance popped into my inbox, he was very polite, friendly, and extremely understanding to my situation and circumstances, and explained that they can clear my house with no problems, and gave a very reasonable quote that I could actually afford.

I was taken care of so sensitively, as well as there was no reasoning or pity put onto me, Anthony genuinely wanted to help.

E-mails went back and forth, and everything was explained properly to me, Anthony made himself my point of contact throughout.

Seeing photographs of past clearances similar to mine, as well as testimonies on their internet site helped, and Anthony ensured me they wouldn’t let me down.

On the day, Anthony and his team arrived at my home in an unmarked van, and said nothing to my neighbours about what was going on, making everything super discreet for me.

Anthony emailed me throughout the day with updates, and also asking concerns about valuables that they located, did I desire them or otherwise, he gave me total control over the clearance, allowing me to decide what I wanted to stay, and what was to go.

Day two was the same, updates and reassurance, I likewise had asked for a deep clean to be carried out, once I had seen how grim my house had become, the team done this for me at such a reasonable cost, and had no hesitation with doing so, they worked effortlessly throughout.

One of the things that attracted me to Pro house clearance was that they never fly tip, and reuse as much as feasible, consisting of giving anything suitable to charity, whereas the rest would be recycled accordingly.

Still in the hospital, Anthony sent me lots of photos via email, and wow!, it all looked remarkable, gone were the stacks of rotten rubbish and useless crap, there were no more flies of bugs infesting throughout my home, and the deep clean certainly paid off, the house looked spic and span.

It was absolutely extraordinary seeing my clean home for the first time, it was spotless, completely clear in every room, and the restroom was gleaming white like new, they even organised my personal belongings after cleaning, laundering and hanging my clothing into my wardrobes, putting my beauty products into the bathroom cupboards, folding my towels into the cupboards too.

I am so happy with the outcome, I have a second chance at life again, I have now went back into my job, and am no longer on the sick, I have put a limit with the bank on my spending, sending most of my wages after bills are covered, into a savings account, I am now taking a minimalist approach to my home, and have a rule, if it hasn’t been used in six months, it’s going to charity.

I can’t thank Anthony and the team enough, they have turned my life around for me, going above and beyond for me, to make sure the criteria was met for me coming out of the physiatrics hospital.

I will continue to recommend you to anyone and everyone! I can’t stop talking about how much you’s have changed my life!

Thank you so much, Ashleigh.