Having a clear out?

Last year we spoke to Lesley Naylor from Clutter Therapy UK and Nicola Woodgate from St Gemma's Hospice about decluttering at a time when it's harder to get rid of your clutter. You can watch the Lunchtime Live conversation below.

Lesley and Nicola shared lots of great tips for the best ways to declutter and what to do with your stuff whilst charity shops are closed due to Covid-19. The main message is to please keep hold of your stuff for a little bit longer, until the charity shops are able to re-open. Charities are missing out on income from donations, so they will need your stuff more than ever after the current lockdown period ends.

If you don't know where to start with de-cluttering, Lesley suggests to start small, think about what part of the house is bothering you the most and start there, don't try and tackle it all at once. Her top tip for storing stuff you want to donate to the charity shops is to wrap up and label things ready. This will also help charity shops a great deal when they are able to start accepting donations again. Some charity shops, including St Gemma's, also accept clothes that are past their best, but it is best to bag these up separately and label them as 'for rags' so they can be sorted easily.