Glenrothes mums Stephanie Stark and Danielle Hood both have first hand experience of family and friends who have struggled with periods of poor mental health.
And they have seen how much of a difference it makes to someone if their living environment is clean and tidy.
This is what gave Stephanie, 32, the idea to help people – who might be struggling with their mental health or have a disability – by offering to clean their house for free.
“I have four kids and am studying psychology full-time at St Andrews University so it can be a struggle for me to stay on top of cleaning my house,” Stephanie explains.
“At the start of the year Danielle and our group of friends gave me a hand and it meant so much just having that support.
“That’s when I came up with the idea of offering the free house cleans to people who are trying to get back on their feet after a period of struggling with their mental health.
“I mentioned it to Danielle and asked her if she wanted to do it with me.
“She agreed. So we got everything set up, including insurance.”
Helping families across Fife
In June the pair set up a Facebook page to get the ball rolling.
And as soon as Danielle, who is a mum-of-three, and Stephanie advertised Fife Free Cleaning, they were inundated with requests or help.
“We got about two months’ worth of cleaning jobs from people from one Facebook post.
“We haven’t needed to advertise our free service since then and we get multiple requests every week.
“Now we now have a waiting list.”
Both mums have been cleaning two houses a week – on a Friday and a Sunday – to keep up with the demand.
And so far the duo have helped 26 families across the Kingdom.
Danielle says: “We just go in and see what needs done.
“But we try and focus on priority areas.
“We clean door frames, skirting boards, contact areas, surfaces, ovens, kitchen appliances – just anything that needs cleaned really.
“There has also been times people have needed cupboards de-cluttered so we have also re-organised them.”
How do they keep the service free?
Stephanie and Danielle record themselves doing the house cleans for their YouTube channel, which has over 15,000 subscribers.
Having people, largely from outside the UK, paying to watch the online platform, helps the mums keep the service free.
“I have always watched cleaning channels on YouTube,” Stephanie says.
“That’s how I learned how to clean myself.
“It also motivated me to get up and clean.
“We even have people who watch our videos and clean alongside us!”
Danielle continues: “We get permission from families to film and then we record ourselves doing the cleaning.
“The videos are monetised – this is how we can continue to offer a free service.
“The money we get from that pays for things like rubbish removal – that is our biggest expense.”
The mums have also given money to Glenrothes Foodbank.
Fife Free Cleaning has also received donations from the public.
This includes £200 from Fife companies – Ace Powerwash and Discounted Office Supplies – which has been used to buy cleaning products.
Satisfaction from helping others
The mums get a lot of satisfaction from supporting people needing help.
“What we like most is when we have gone in to do a clean but we sometimes haven’t managed to get everything done,” Stephanie says.
“But after we leave the person tells us they don’t need us to come back because they have managed the clean the rest themselves.
“Sometimes people have a mental block and if too much is needing cleaned, they don’t know where to start. They feel overwhelmed.
“But if we go in and clean most of it, leaving just one area, that allows them to focus on that.”
Danielle adds: “I love cleaning and it’s nice seeing rooms transformed. It is also satisfying knowing that you are helping someone.”
Launching a paid-for service
Last month Stephanie and Danielle launched a paid-for cleaning service – FFC Cleaning & Housekeeping.
This sees them employ cleaners who can then help people manage their homes on a regular basis after the initial clean.
They are hoping to build on that while also keeping the free service going.
Stephanie adds: “We work well together as a team – we keep each other going if one of us is losing steam during a clean because it can be physically tiring.
“We push each other to get it done.”
Anyone wanting to request a free clean should contact Stephanie and Danielle through their Fife Free Cleaning Facebook page.
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