Not sure if this is the right forum section to post this, but here goes anyway.
About 6-7 years ago, I have befriended an elderly English gentleman who lives a few streets away after I was asked to help him with his IT needs through an IT charity I volunteer for, called Ability.NET
We got talking about his times during WW2, his worldly travels and the fact that he moved back from Australia in his late teens after his father passed away to look after his mother. He lives in the same house he was born in (NW London), lives alone, never married and no children. He has no real immediate relations, maybe one brother who lives far away and appears to be forgotten by both society and what remaining long distance relatives he may have (his nephew is in his 70s and lives far).
I've helped him in the past by applying directly to the council for him to get a blue disabled badge for when he used to go shopping with a friend, or call up the telephone companies to move him onto better priced plans or even notified his GP about safeguard concerns I had for him and a nurse pops in once every few months to check on him. I even arranged to find him a cleaner which worked fine for about 2 years.
He refuses to sell his home to move into a care home / residential home and despite my insistence on him asking for help from the council, he doesn't want it. He's not a difficult man, he just doesn't want to bother anyone and thinks he's lived too long and essentially waiting to die. He feels it is his obligation to leave what he has for his far away relatives even though they dont visit him rather than spend the funds on himself, even if it means living another 5-10 years in some comfort.
He is now 95 years old. I've seen him trying to walk up the stairs: he crawls on all fours. He's fallen down in the bathroom (there is only one bathroom on the first floor) and at times hasn't been able to get up for half a day. He refuses a neck strap SOS alarm. Walking into his home is like going back in time. He hoards stuff relating to bird feed bags in his hallway and other stuff. I've since built him an outdoor Costco storage unit and cleared his path way.
Having spoken to him to today, he told me that he fell down a few weeks ago in his kitchen after losing balance and badly gashed his head. This is not the first time its happened. A friend of his took him to hospital 2 days after the event and he had stitches put in.
NOW TO THE POINT OF THIS THREAD
I'm publicity shy and can never do those crowd funding things which go viral like some homeless guy suddenly gets £250k to buy a house. This old man has some savings (I don't know how much, I guess maybe few tens of thousand + state pension). I begged him to please allow me to help him organise a side or rear extension if he can afford £30k to £40k as I've had builders build one for my recently deceased father when he was ill. He's agreed for me to get quotes, but doesnt want me to do a fund raise of any sort because he's stubborn and just genuinely doesn't want to trouble anyone. Society owes him a debt of gratitude but this WW2 veteran appears to have fallen in the cracks of forgotten society.
Is there a charity any of you professionals know about, or any assistance that can be provided by an architectural technicians / architects who can help with a project like this or builders' yards who might donate bricks etc. I'm not minded to call those BBC DIY SOS people because he would not want that and I want to respect his wishes.
But at the same time, I can no longer turn a blind eye to this guy having to risk climbing up the stairs to get to a bedroom or bathroom. He needs guidance and I will help him, but not sure if there are organisations that helps people like him by having tradespeople do little bits of projects together like the DIY SOS people in the program.
Thanks for reading this long thread. If you have any negative or sarcastic comments to make, please do me a favour and don't bother replying. I'm trying really hard to see how I can help one of our forgotten war heroes with no support. Many thanks.
His house is on a corner, so I was thinking if any GF extension room and bathroom can be built, could something be done under permitted development? It would need to be a triangle type design I guess like the grey roof one to the left of the first picture. Unfortunately he's family got the short straw with the smallest corner garden.
About 6-7 years ago, I have befriended an elderly English gentleman who lives a few streets away after I was asked to help him with his IT needs through an IT charity I volunteer for, called Ability.NET
We got talking about his times during WW2, his worldly travels and the fact that he moved back from Australia in his late teens after his father passed away to look after his mother. He lives in the same house he was born in (NW London), lives alone, never married and no children. He has no real immediate relations, maybe one brother who lives far away and appears to be forgotten by both society and what remaining long distance relatives he may have (his nephew is in his 70s and lives far).
I've helped him in the past by applying directly to the council for him to get a blue disabled badge for when he used to go shopping with a friend, or call up the telephone companies to move him onto better priced plans or even notified his GP about safeguard concerns I had for him and a nurse pops in once every few months to check on him. I even arranged to find him a cleaner which worked fine for about 2 years.
He refuses to sell his home to move into a care home / residential home and despite my insistence on him asking for help from the council, he doesn't want it. He's not a difficult man, he just doesn't want to bother anyone and thinks he's lived too long and essentially waiting to die. He feels it is his obligation to leave what he has for his far away relatives even though they dont visit him rather than spend the funds on himself, even if it means living another 5-10 years in some comfort.
He is now 95 years old. I've seen him trying to walk up the stairs: he crawls on all fours. He's fallen down in the bathroom (there is only one bathroom on the first floor) and at times hasn't been able to get up for half a day. He refuses a neck strap SOS alarm. Walking into his home is like going back in time. He hoards stuff relating to bird feed bags in his hallway and other stuff. I've since built him an outdoor Costco storage unit and cleared his path way.
Having spoken to him to today, he told me that he fell down a few weeks ago in his kitchen after losing balance and badly gashed his head. This is not the first time its happened. A friend of his took him to hospital 2 days after the event and he had stitches put in.
NOW TO THE POINT OF THIS THREAD
I'm publicity shy and can never do those crowd funding things which go viral like some homeless guy suddenly gets £250k to buy a house. This old man has some savings (I don't know how much, I guess maybe few tens of thousand + state pension). I begged him to please allow me to help him organise a side or rear extension if he can afford £30k to £40k as I've had builders build one for my recently deceased father when he was ill. He's agreed for me to get quotes, but doesnt want me to do a fund raise of any sort because he's stubborn and just genuinely doesn't want to trouble anyone. Society owes him a debt of gratitude but this WW2 veteran appears to have fallen in the cracks of forgotten society.
Is there a charity any of you professionals know about, or any assistance that can be provided by an architectural technicians / architects who can help with a project like this or builders' yards who might donate bricks etc. I'm not minded to call those BBC DIY SOS people because he would not want that and I want to respect his wishes.
But at the same time, I can no longer turn a blind eye to this guy having to risk climbing up the stairs to get to a bedroom or bathroom. He needs guidance and I will help him, but not sure if there are organisations that helps people like him by having tradespeople do little bits of projects together like the DIY SOS people in the program.
Thanks for reading this long thread. If you have any negative or sarcastic comments to make, please do me a favour and don't bother replying. I'm trying really hard to see how I can help one of our forgotten war heroes with no support. Many thanks.
His house is on a corner, so I was thinking if any GF extension room and bathroom can be built, could something be done under permitted development? It would need to be a triangle type design I guess like the grey roof one to the left of the first picture. Unfortunately he's family got the short straw with the smallest corner garden.
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