Over £11,500 has been raised for a 96-year old former prisoner of war who was told his local authority could no longer afford his care.
The online fundraiser backed by charity Help for Heroes was launched to help cover care costs for Robert Clark, who has spent his £50,000 life savings on covering part of the weekly cost of his £960 live-in carer.
During the Second World War, Mr Clark was one of few soldiers to survive Hitler’s 1,000 mile ‘Death March’ in 1945 as prisoners were moved away from the advancing Russian army.
He now faces losing his home in northwest London after Brent Council said it could not pay for the level of care he currently receives.
A local authority assessment suggested the needs of the World War Two veteran - who is blind, deaf in one ear and in a wheelchair - could be met for less than half the price.
Mr Clark’s son, Mike, said relocating his father into a care home would be like asking him to return to ‘a prisoner of war camp’.
Mike Clark told ITV: ‘We have enough money to pay for around three more months of care but we have no idea what is going to happen after. We are not looking for a lot of money just for the council to do the right thing.’
Brent Council is offering supporting Mr Clark in his applications for health funding and has offered a deferred payment to help avoid the sale of his house.
Phil Porter, strategic director of adult social care at Brent Council, said: ‘We recognise Mr Clark’s contribution to this country and sincerely empathise with the situation that he and other older people like him across the UK are in. However, the problem arises as the care package that Mr Clark is choosing is not affordable to council taxpayers given the constraints of local government funding and the need to be consistent for the 2,900 people we support.
‘There is a safety net for Mr Clark, and other people in similar situations, but if anyone chooses care over and above what we are able to offer, then they need to contribute towards that additional cost from their own resources.
‘The reality is that councils need to act within the constraints of national funding which requires us to meet people’s social care needs in a way that also offers value for money for the taxpayer.’
