cope with

Bereavements By Sorting The Family Belongings

St Teresa’s Hospice are offering to lift the burden on friends and families faced with clearing the homes of loved ones who have passed away or gone into a home.

The hospice’s house clearance service operates across Teesside, Darlington, South Durham and North Yorkshire. It helps the hospice raise much needed funds and provides roughly 30% of its charity shop stock.

Every year the hospice needs to raise £3.5 million to provide free in-patient and community care for those living with life limiting illnesses and their families.

Marjorie McIntyre, St Teresa’s Hospice head of retail, said: “I think the important thing to remember about this service is how sensitively our teams work. The service is bespoke to the family’s needs, brings them relief and saves them a lot of heartache, while helping a charity at a particularly challenging time.”

House clearance manager Paul Wheatley said: “We have become quite skilled over the years at clearing houses.

“The first step is to locate any important documents including bank details, passports and insurance papers, then valuables such as jewellery and higher value mementos families might like to keep.

“We once located some wedding and engagement rings which a lady had sewn into the hem of a set of curtains to keep them safe from burglars. We were able to give them to the family after she had gone into a home. We also find English and foreign money hidden in drawers, handbags and in the pages of books, which we return, as well as photographs and other keepsakes.”

Teams then sort through furniture, clothing and other household items seeing what can be sold in the charity shops, what can be recycled or salvaged and what has to be thrown away.

“You can see the relief on people’s faces when we tell them we will sort everything out for them,” he said. “Some actually burst into tears because deciding what to keep and what not to keep evokes memories and can leave them feeling guilty. But when they know it is going to a really worthwhile cause it helps them.”

House clearances range from large private homes and council properties to sheds, garages and even gardens. Paul visits the site and assesses the amount of work involved with prices starting from £250 for a small flat.

“With council houses it’s especially important to get them cleared and cleaned up,” said Paul. “Until they are completely empty, including carpets, curtains and lampshades, the family still has to pay the rent.”

The service can be accessed by contacting the hospice on (01325) 488701 or by email: sales@darlingtonhospice.org.uk.