- There are about 3 million hoarders in the United Kingdom. This program focuses on such different topics as: obsessive cleaners who live with extreme anxiety at the thought of dirt; people who become hoarders as a result of bereavement and other traumas; and the perils of breathing in dust and unknown particulate matter, which might even be toxic. Hoarders find it easier to let their things go if they donate to charity, rather than throwing them into the skip. Linda Dykes of Abergele, Wales, known as the "Queen of Gleam," has an obsessive-compulsive need to clean. She has a team who help clear Britain's public spaces of graffiti and of over two million pieces of litter that are dropped outdoors each day. The program shows Linda and her squad clean up a Victorian underpass in Redhill, Surrey. Volunteers include Cheyza Burch and friend Michele, who provide humor and drama in a scene in which they use an industrial-strength jet washer to clean the brick walls of grime. Next, she calls in specialists to cover the walls with anti-graffiti paint. After four hundred man-hours of labor, the tunnel is re-opened to the public, and a crowd of locals praise it highly. Other cleaners assist hoarders around the U.K. to bring tidiness and sanitation into their lives. Denise, another obsessive, meets Frank, an 81-year-old retired aerospace engineer living in Chipping Sodbury. He admits that his home is a deathtrap. The house is so full of filth that Denise is horrified when she steps inside: "If you don't mind me saying, this is the worst house I've ever been in, in my life." She tells him to throw away all the ancient food in the kitchen, as well as any implements that he never uses. When she sees the bathroom, the poor woman vomits. However, four days later, Frank's house is gleaming. 22-year-old hairdresser Adam Cannell is obsessed with symmetry and balance. He volunteers to help Helen, who lives in Buckinghamshire with her dog and two cats. She says that life is too short to spend cleaning her house. When Adam enters, he is shocked, and Helen says, "I can tell that you're totally out of your comfort zone." When he finds to his horror that the cats used the carpet as their latrine, Helen shrugs it off. Adam asks Helen when the last time was that she saw her bedroom floor, and she has to think about it. He asks her whether she gains anything from not throwing old stuff out, and she admits, "It's a negative gain, in that I don't have to cope with throwing things away." But after four days, the chaos is gone, and Helen's son is amazed during his visit: "I can hear an echo! ... It really does feel twice the size." Helen vows to begin a regular cleaning regime. It's a happy ending for everyone involved.—fkelleghan@aol.com
- Two more compulsive cleaners are matched with people whose homes are in dire need of a major spring clean.
Denise, from Richmond, was officially diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder in 2002. She takes four days out of her own cleaning regime to help 82-year-old retired British Aerospace engineer Frank from Chipping Sodbury.
Linda has also recruited hairdresser Adam, who heads to Buckinghamshire to help Helen with her piles of clutter.
And Linda and her team of helpers also take on the challenge of sprucing up an underpass in Redhill, Surrey.
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