Friends of Oasis

One Stop Organisers Clutter Clearing – in Partnership with Wandsworth Oasis

I was clutter clearing for about 10 years before I was introduced to Wandsworth Oasis.   Their professional organisation has made a massive difference to the efficiency of what I can offer my clients, which makes everyone happy.

There are three main ways in which they help more than any other charity that I have used for donations:

1. They have a fantastic and well organised collection service, who come on a day when they say they will, at a time that they say they will, and often at short notice. This is in stark contrast to other charity shops which are unable to man their collection services in such a way, meaning that clients have to stay in all day or, even worse, stay in and the collection never happens.
2. They are happy to accept a large amount in one go. Have you ever been to a charity shop with your car full and they have refused your donation?  It’s very frustrating.
3. They will take some things others won’t – check with them before you bring a lot of stuff, but they will sell things through the right medium to get money for the charity, and if that is ebay or a car boot sale they will do that, which means they will take some weird and wonderful items.

The brilliant thing is that they also host community events so, as a supporter, you can get to know them and understand more about what they do and where the money goes.

I donate on behalf of clients on a regular basis, and if my client is a UK tax payer I make sure that they have completed gift aid forms, so that the charity can benefit from the extra money.

There are five main circumstances where I help clients ‘clear the clutter’, or stream-line as many prefer to term it;  after all, these possessions are well-loved and therefore can be difficult to part with.  And clutter clearing as a term can, I think, seem disrespectful:

1. Households amalgamating – couples moving in together, with or without their children
2. Seniors downsizing or moving into care
3. Families or individuals moving abroad or travelling
4. Nearest and dearest clearing after a bereavement
5. Having building work done and disposing of items before putting into storage

Most people just don’t know where to start, or how to start, but once we get going it can be a very cathartic process.  My support might just be physical, but often it is also about strategy and emotional support too.   Having a friend come to help you might speed up the process considerably if you are lucky, but clients do get distracted! Having a professional in to help means that things are done in a methodical way and therefore more than 100% quicker.  Items are taken away at the end of each session either to Wandsworth Oasis or, if rubbish, to the tip, which means clients can see results more quickly.   We’ve brought things back to London from Somerset, Dorset and Essex, but we couldn’t from Glasgow – the allowance on the plane wasn’t large enough!

As well as clutter clearing we project manage other household projects including all of the admin and liaison for house moves and building projects.

For more information visit Ashley’s Website.