Who We Are
A business built on decades of experience
We met over 15 years ago while working together for a national advocacy charity, running services and campaigning for better rights and support for people with mental health challenges, learning disabilities and care needs.
Over time, our shared values and experience led us to collaborate closely — building a deep understanding of how environments and living conditions affect wellbeing, independence, safety and dignity.
Since then we have become firm friends and have worked together on many projects. The Clearing Crew brings together everything we've learned about supporting people through difficult times.
About Sara
Sara is co-founder of The Clearing Crew. She brings over 20 years of experience working with people facing complex life challenges.
Her early career included 10 years as a Probation Officer supporting individuals through some of the toughest periods in their lives, followed by work in mental health and learning disability advocacy, championing the rights and voices of vulnerable people.
For the past five years, Sara specialised in neurodiversity coaching, supporting people with ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia and other cognitive differences. This work deepened her understanding of how environments can overwhelm or empower people — especially when it comes to managing homes, routines and daily living.
Through this work, she saw firsthand how a chaotic or overwhelming space can compound existing challenges, and how creating order and clarity in someone's environment can be a turning point. She learned that support needs to be practical, patient and completely free of judgement.
Sara is also a published author and multi-award winning business owner. What truly drives her is helping people feel safe, respected and back in control of their living space. She co-founded The Clearing Crew to offer hands-on support that makes a real, visible difference to people's lives.
About Colleen
Colleen is co-founder of The Clearing Crew. She brings over 30 years of experience supporting people whose lives have been shaped by challenge and change.
Her work spans housing and homelessness support, advocacy under the Mental Health, Mental Capacity and Care Acts, and national charities supporting young people in care, LGBT+ communities, people living in poverty, and those with disabilities.
Her understanding of how home environments affect our sense of self is rooted in decades of working with people navigating homelessness, leaving care, being released from prison, discharged from secure environments, or seeking asylum.
This experience gave her a deep understanding of how living environments shape our sense of self, safety and possibility. It also sparked her belief that even small changes — clearing a surface, opening a window, shifting a single bag — can have a transformative impact.
Colleen co-founded The Clearing Crew to step away from the screen and back into homes, making change tangible and helping people feel hopeful about what's next.