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11
Sept
Harrogate cleaner helping to 'change the life' of someone with terminal illness
What started as a simple post on a Harrogate Facebook group has turned into a community project, after a cleaner offered free deep cleans to someone with a terminal illness each month.
At the start of September Kim Roe, who runs Pinky Perfect Cleaning, put on Facebook that she wanted to offer the free clean after finding herself “cleaning for more and more people who are living with a terminal illness”.
Ms Roe said:
I was cleaning for a woman with terminal cancer – a type I had never even heard of – and she was going to try to go back to work soon. It was only on my way home I thought how unfair it was, and I decided I want to do something to help. When someone is dealing with something so enormous the last thing anyone should have to worry about is trying to keep on top of their home.
After the initial post, which appealed to people to share the offer, Ms Roe was inundated not with requests for free cleans, but with offers to help.
Another cleaner volunteered to help, I have a gardener, window cleaner, the Duke of Wellington pub has donated a voucher for a free Sunday lunch for the whole family. A company is doing gel nails for her, an electrical company have put £150 towards her shopping.
A young boy even contacted saying he’d like to offer £25, so I suggested getting a voucher for a café. That’s a lot of money for a young lad to offer. I’m absolutely blown away.
Ms Roe is offering the service to anyone with a terminal illness each month.
Ms Roe, who offers deep cleans across the whole of North Yorkshire and set up her first cleaning company in Harrogate 13 years ago, has already been in touch with the woman who will receive the September free clean.
She said:
She’s only 33 – I couldn't believe how young she was. She has three kids – 21 months, three and six. It hit home, I got quite emotional speaking to her. She’s the rock of her family – obviously her husband does a lot – but life will never be the same once she’s gone.
It went from being a clean house to ensuring she’s stress free for a whole week. Not having to think about the food shop, or gardening - having a pamper, a meal out with her family.
'I don’t know how long it’ll last'
Ms Roe has been offered so many donations that she’s holding some back for future months, where she hopes to offer cleans to individuals including an 18-year-old girl who needs a heart transplant and a 95-year-old man who has a couple of months to live.
The 36-year-old admits that some of the people who have requested the free clean are “trying their luck”.
She said:
I’ve had people with ADHD and autism say they’re struggling and ask for it, but it’s not the same. I completely appreciate that all of those things can make keeping a home incredibly difficult, but that is not what this particular offer is for. There’s people who see something is for free so they try their luck.
With her phone “full of texts and emails” with offers of services, does Ms Roe plan on taking this any further and maybe start a charity?
I don’t know where it’s going to go – it’s blown up now but I don’t know how long it’ll last. I’ve thought about making it a charity, but if I can do my bit that’s good enough for me.
I won’t be able to do the free cleans for a bit as I’m having a hysterectomy in November and will be out of work until January, but I’m hoping it’ll continue after that.
Ms Roe will be doing the first clean on September 29 – taking the day before off work to allow her time to collect all the donated items.
She emphasises she doesn’t want people to send her money – she wants skills, or even just people willing to roll their sleeves up — one Harrogate man has booked the day off work and said he will do as she tells him.
She said:
We cannot change the fact that these people are terminally ill. We cannot fix what their families are going through. But maybe we can change someone’s life for one day.
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