A Salford mum-of-two started her own decluttering business after struggling with her own mental health - now helping hundreds of overwhelmed parents in the region.
Janine McDonald realised she was letting standards slip after she was made redundant and started struggling with her mental health back in 2016. The 51-year-old, from Swinton, had suffered a marriage breakdown, lost her family home and had spent years scrambling to find a flexible job that would work around her duties as a single mum.
The turbulent time, which made her 'lose all self-worth and confidence', then left to a mountain of clutter that began forming around her. But it was attending a business course in 2019 that was the turning point for mum Janine, leading her to set up her home organisation business ‘Clear the Clutter Now’.
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Janine says she spent years on employment allowance and struggled to find a job that was flexible enough to support her in her new life as a single mum. But her new love for clearing out clutter became her job in 2019 and she has been helping people to give preloved items a new home ever since.
Her social media following on the likes of Instagram and Facebook has continued to grow as she travels from home to home across Greater Manchester in a bid to give people a 'clear home, clear head and clear heart.'
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , she said: "Sometimes people just get overwhelmed. It's the pace of life. If you have a family then you have kids going to clubs and parties. Social lives have exploded again and they are doing lots of activities.
"Parents are juggling so many different things, it so easily happens. It starts off being a bit untidy, then Christmas and birthdays come and it's like, 'Wow, we have so much stuff we don't need'.
"It gets out of their control because decluttering is something everyone says they need to do, but then they don't get round to it. It's something that gets put off and put off and put off."
Janine’s ‘Clear the Clutter Now’ Facebook page provides more information on her mission to help families rehome preloved items.
