The Therapeutic Side of Cleaning: Mental Health Benefits for Refugees

Life as a refugee is messy. You don't know what happens next. Oxford was new, and for a long time everything felt unfamiliar. One thing that helped was cleaning. Sounds odd, but it did.

Cleaning has a rhythm. You tidy, you scrub, you see a result. When so much is out of your control, having a room you can actually fix—and a client who's pleased—gives you a bit of solid ground. The physical side helps too. You're moving, you're busy, and for a while you're not going round in circles in your head.

For our team it goes further. You get to make small decisions again: how to tackle a stain, how to arrange a space. That sense of "I can do this" matters when you've had to leave so much behind. And because we're employed properly and clients rely on us, the work isn't just therapeutic—it's a real job with real responsibility. That combination has helped a lot of us find our feet.

Plenty of people find home cleaning calming, not only refugees. But when you've been through displacement, the benefits hit harder. A steady routine, clear tasks, and a sense of purpose make a real difference. So when you see one of us working in your home, it's not just a clean surface—for us it's often part of getting back to something like normal.