‘I was ashamed of my hoarding and couldn’t move on with my life’

One of her clients, Ellys Binding, from Yate, who is neurodivergent, said making decisions was the hardest part of decluttering.

“I just freeze up and it can be very overwhelming when you look at a space and it’s really hectic,” she said.

“The storage spaces in my house are quite impressive, as I have very big cupboards.

“But what’s happened is that all those spaces have gotten full of the stuff I don’t need, and all the stuff that I use on a daily basis is on the surfaces so that I can grab it quickly.”

She said it had got to the point where everywhere she looked was “always a complete mess”.

“To be able to have someone like Gemma come along and say, ‘this time we’re going to focus on this’ and to do it with you, really helps me to stay on track,” she added.