Our mission
Supporting individuals, families and organisations from all backgrounds in the wider community and delighting them through the provision of an exceptional, holistic house and home support service.
Our vision
To deliver professional, holistic services providing support to individuals, families and organisations and leading to enhanced quality of life and better outcomes within their living and working spaces, to the extent that they are so delighted that they will want to work with us again and recommend us to others.
Introduction
Every Home Matters was established by Cheryl Carter, to provide a professional, friendly and holistic support service covering all aspects of home organisation and decluttering, home moving and relocation, and home improvement. Our team has an extensive combined experience in property, estate agency and the domestic and commercial construction sectors.
We provide services covering virtually every aspect of our clients’ needs when rethinking their living space and dwelling requirements. Our support services are offered to all individuals, families and organisations, whether needs arise from personal choice or necessity, including challenging, traumatic and transitional life events including particular support for vulnerable individuals and those living in isolation within the community.
We are passionate about our unique, bespoke services which are offered to help alleviate the stresses and strains that can otherwise be experienced as a result of undertaking these activities by ones self, especially at times when personal circumstances are difficult. Our clients’ requirements may arise due to a busy professional lifestyle, a busy family life, age and retirement, or just simply forward planning, but equally may also arise during or as a result of challenging life circumstances such as illness, mental health, OCD, ADD, serious hoarding tendencies, bereavement, disability or divorce.
We are creative and practical in our approach and always remain working with our clients until all transition issues are resolved. Whilst we are driven by our enthusiasm and determination, we remain entirely non-judgemental and professional integrity, empathy, compassion and total client confidentiality underpin our services and values..
Peace of mind
We’re not just a house and home services company…
We are an efficient and socially responsible team of specialists in our field, providing bespoke solutions for whatever organising, moving, or improving requirements you might have, and no matter what your personal circumstances.
We have in excess of 55 years combined specialist experience, and we only choose individuals to join our team, with similar experience, and who share our values and determination to provide an exceptional first class support service. Like us they are expected to thrive on the satisfaction of a job well done.
We have an excellent reputation in our field and our clients are frequently impressed by not only our drive, enthusiasm and can-do attitude, but also by our care and attention to their needs as well as every individual aspect and detail of the services that we deliver for them. By dedicating ourselves to our clients’ unique requirements, we can give clear advice and support, and will always deliver a first-class service.
At every stage of our services we are entrusted with your home and possessions, along with personal and confidential information and an obligation to treat you with fairness and decency. This is a responsibility that we take very seriously and for this reason:
- Our Promise – we make certain promises to you in regard to the way we will interact with you.
- DBS Checks – all members of the team have a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check (formerly CRB) copies of which can be provided upon request.
- Confidentiality – all members of the team are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement.
- Accreditation – professional accreditation and membership to relevant professional bodies is held either by Every Home Matters or directly by our team members, and in this way we demonstrate our commitment to quality and professional excellence.
- Training – all members of the team have received job related training and various social awareness training. Further training is provided when the need is identified.
- Data Protection – To comply with all Data Protection regulations, we are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
- Supply Chain – all subcontractors, specialist tradesmen, suppliers, consultants and the like, are pre-qualified and vetted before we employ them.
- Insurance – we are comprehensively and fully insured for all our services and activities.
We are committed to providing an exceptional first–class support service with sensitivity, discretion and the utmost confidentiality, with peace of mind guaranteed every step of the way.
Our promises
Our client’s peace of mind and trust are at the heart of everything we do.
We make certain commitments to you in regard to the way that we go about our day to day activities and these are covered within our company policies and our terms and conditions. In addition we make certain, more personal, promises to you about the way that we will interact with you at every step of our services. We shall:
- strive to achieve positive planned outcomes for all clients.
- be honest and transparent in all our activities
- never ask for cash or unidentified advance payments
- provide sound advice in regard to the services that we provide and to other support that is available, but you shall be under no obligation to follow this up, and we have no agreement with any third parties which is one of the many elements that make us unique.
- never put pressure upon our clients to enter into a contract with us or to make decisions that are not in their interest.
- uphold the safety and welfare of both our clients and our own team during our services.
- be polite, courteous and patient at all times, treating our clients with dignity and in a way that we would wish to be treated too.
- handle all client matters with total confidentiality and respect their privacy.
- respect our clients’ property and possessions and handle them with care.
- commit a single point of contact to each client and project so that you always know who you are dealing with and who to contact.
- on larger projects, delegate a dedicated team so that you always know who is coming and going from your home.
- always be present when third parties attend your property and always inspect their work upon completion to ensure it is of an acceptable quality and that it meets legal requirements.
- continuously monitor our services and performance, based on both client and supply chain feedback and strive to improve the way that we work for and with our clients
- deal with any complaints promptly and professionally.
If you feel that there are areas of our services that we could improve upon or do differently, we are always open to innovative suggestions and welcome constructive comments from our clients and from visitors to our website.
Accreditation
As part of our commitment to quality and professional excellence within our field both as a company and as individuals, we hold membership and accreditation with key professional bodies such as:
- Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers UK (apdoUK)
- National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM)
- Dementia Friends (as Dementia Friends Champion)
- Alzheimer’s Society
- AgeUK
- National Federation of Property Professionals (NFPP) full membership pending
- National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) full membership pending
- Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
- Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- Institute of Directors (IoD)
Our accreditations and professional memberships afford us the opportunity to remain up to date with all advances and developments within our field, to achieve continuing professional development and to receive up to the moment specialist training in all aspects of the work and services that we provide.
Training & Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
We undertake to ensure that all members of our team will always have received the most up to date training relevant to our field of work in order to meet our aim of providing a first-class and exceptional professional service. We achieve this by attending external training courses and providing in-house training.
Some of the key areas that we are trained in are:
- health & safety (including fire safety)
- environmental
- first aid
- project management
- quantity surveying
- building & construction management
- contract law and dispute resolution
- mental health awareness
- mental health first aid
- dementia awareness (we are Dementia Friends Champions)
- safeguarding vulnerable individuals
- hoarding and chronic disorganisation
- OCD and ADD
- child care
- mediation and counseling
Our training is also sustained and supplemented, importantly, by CPD and maintaining membership and accreditation to professional bodies and institutes who also provide cutting-edge training, support resources, news and information about developments within our field of expertise. Continuing Professional Development is key to our ability to provide a best-in-class service and so we regularly attend seminars and training events hosted by those professional bodies as well as absorbing the wealth of knowledge contained in their regular interim digests both online and in their official publications.
Environment
We have a number of company policies that deal with the way in which we interact with the environment during our business activities and these give details of the high level of attention we give to this matter. However it is often the small details that are important and so it is only right to let you know some of those every day things that we do that will make a difference to our environment in the long run.
Waste : We are a licensed waste carrier under the Government Waste Carriers Scheme – waste carriers license number CBDL34070.
Waste Management : We operate a strict policy whereby all waste and rubbish generated from our activities is segregated for recycling and/or landfill disposal.
Antibiotic Guardian – We have each registered our commitment to this Government Initiative which was established by Public Health England during October 2014. We will always ensure that out of date or unwanted antibiotics that arise from our activities will be disposed of responsibly at a pharmacist outlet to ensure that they do not enter the environment and the food chain.
Carbon Footprint : We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and to saving our planet. We will always:
- switch off all office IT equipment, lighting and other electronic or electrical office equipment that uses power even when on standby, overnight and/or when not in use.
- only use and/or purchase electronic goods, IT goods and white goods that are A Rated wherever possible
- recycle waste paper, cardboard, plastics and metals.
- recycle or reuse waste items arising from our client activities – eg. cardboard boxes and plastic bags may be used for transporting waste or other items.
- use environmentally friendly products wherever practicable, such as recycled or reusable rubbish sacks or plastic storage boxes and environmentally friendly or organic cleaning products, etc.
- recycle all of our printer cartridges via The Recycling Factory who in turn contribute funds raised from this activity to a charity of our choice.
- never print documents unless it is absolutely necessary and we use either recycled printer paper or paper produced from sustainable resources. We always print double sided when this is possible.
- only ever travel to meetings when it is necessary to do so otherwise we will conduct these via the telephone, Skype or similar.
- manage travel and transportation to keep it to a minimum and endeavour to do so by restricting this to essential activities, when we have full loads, and when we can restrict the overall mileage that is likely to be travelled.
Community and charity
We set out our commitment to the community and charity within our Community Engagement Poilcy. We are a socially responsible organisation and take our involvement in the community very seriously. Some of the ways that we demonstrate this are:
Carers Support Merton – we have a strong relationship with Carers Support Merton who do excellent work within the community of the London Borough of Merton to help and advise the many self funded and voluntary carers who are quite frankly unsung heroes. Cheryl is a member of the Board of Trustees. <insert logo>
Business In The Community (BITC) – we are committed supporters of the BITC initiative which has been in existence for more than 30 years and is a member of The Prince’s Responsible Business Network <insert planter logo>
The Alzheimer’s Society & Dementia Friends Initiative – we are each members of the society and trained Dementia Friends. Cheryl is a fully trained Dementia Friends Champion and is able to provide support and advice to others and to give them the necessary training to become a Dementia Friend. <insert two logos a) for the society and b) dementia friend/champion logo>
Chamber of Commerce – we are full members of the Chamber of Commerce in Merton and Kingston and we support their work within the community and with local charities. <insert 3x logos>
Charity Shop Gifting – through our business activities our clients often identify items which they wish to dispose of, which, whilst reusable, would be either financially punitive to attempt to sell on their behalf or are indeed unsellable. We recommend to clients in these instances that they gift those items either to family or to charitable causes via high street charity outlets. Whilst we will always respect our clients’ choice of charity we also have a list of preferred charities to whom we regularly gift items and recommend them to our clients in the absence of a preference of their own.
Charitable Fund Raising & Donations – we are committed and frequent volunteers for charitable fund raising events and to see who we support please click on our blog for the latest news. We also make regular donations to a number of charities.
Supply chain
Our Procurement Policy also covers aspects of our supply chain and we set out below more details of how we go about managing our resource of many preferred and approved suppliers, subcontractors, specialist trades-people, and consultants.
Supply Chain Vetting
When we seek to appoint another company or individual to carry out work for our clients, they are representing Every Home Matters and everything that we stand for. For this reason it is vitally important to us that we have total peace of mind in respect to their capacity to deliver good quality, fairly priced services and products in good time and in a manner that is respectful to all parties and the environment. We go about ensuring that this is possible in the following ways:
- Prequalification – every individual or company that we use is vetted via our prequalification process which looks at all aspects of how they approach the delivery of their services and skills in respect to such matters as quality, health & safety policy and record, environment, accreditation, industry association memberships and insurances, for example.
- Supply Chain Approval – only once they have successfully completed the prequalification process does an individual or company become part of our approved supply chain. If they do not meet the required standards we will not use them.
- Supply Chain Monitoring – our supply chain is regularly monitored to ensure that standards and requirements do not fall and to ensure that insurances are always up to date. Where possible we aim to encourage our suppliers to work with us and to improve continuously.
Supply Chain Values
We expect members of our approved supply chain to respect and hold the same values and vision that we do and for every individual that acts on our behalf to behave in a way that is fair, transparent, honest and lawful. All individuals are expected to handle internal and external business with integrity and to reject any business practice which might be considered improper.
Would you like to become one of Every Home Matters’ approved suppliers?
We are always on the lookout for reputable companies and individuals with whom to work. If you would like to work with us, please contact us so that we can arrange to meet and discuss your services. <link to Contact Us or to email host with email address>
Supply chain
We hold and maintain the following insurances in relation to our services and activities and copies can be provided upon request.
- Employers Liability: £10,000,000 any one occurrence.
- Public Liability: £2,000,000 any one occurrence.
- Products Liability: £2,000,000 any one occurrence and in all in the Period of Insurance.
- Pollution Liability: £2,000,000 any one occurrence and in all in the Period of Insurance.
- Professional Indemnity: £500,000 any one claim