BBC report warns of a "mental health emergency" in hoarding support
BBC Midlands has published an in-depth report on Birmingham social enterprise Clouds End CIC, whose founder Heather Matuozzo warns hoarding in the UK has become a “behind closed doors mental health emergency”.
BBC News has published a major report on hoarding, following Birmingham social enterprise Clouds End over a four month period as it delivered its “Chaos 2 Order” project across the city. Founder Heather Matuozzo told the BBC that hoarding has become a “behind closed doors mental health emergency”, with referrals rising sharply since the pandemic.
The article estimates that 2 to 5% of the UK population may be affected by hoarding disorder, which the World Health Organization classified as a mental health condition in 2018. Around four in ten of those Clouds End supports are over the age of 60.
Heather Matuozzo is calling for a funded national hoarding strategy and a Hoarding Charter that would make Birmingham the world’s first Hoarding Awareness city. Responding, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government would “fix the broken system” and pointed to plans to recruit 8,500 mental health workers and invest £26m in new community mental health crisis centres.