Help WWII Veteran Elizabeth with Nursing Home Fees

Hi, my name is John and I'm fundraising to help pay the nursing home fees for my 100-year-old mother. The photograph was taken on her 100th birthday.

Let me first tell you something about her. She was born in London on September 15th, 1923. During the Second World War, she served her country in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), now part of the RAF, from 1941 to 1945. She raised my twin brother and me by herself because my father left when we were 4. In 1968 she moved to the Isle of Man. She became an expert qualified buyer for several shoe stores. She was self-taught, in the shoe trade. She has always been self-sufficient. My mother has also been a person who works in the community. She, with my brother, founded the TT rider’s supporters club. For those of you who don't know, the TT is a series of very famous motorcycle races that take place every year in the Isle of Man. The club she started with my brother helped riders and the families of riders who were injured or killed in the races with gifts in the hospital such as flowers or fruit, and helped the families financially by providing funds for them to visit and stay with their loved ones who had been hurt.

On the 13th August 2023 my twin brother, who looked after her for many years, passed away from bladder cancer at the age of 74. This was just one month before her 100th birthday, a date she had been looking forward to for some time. His funeral was on September 29th. As you can imagine this was a very hard time for her. I live in the USA but I travelled to the Isle of Man to see my brother for the last time and to be with my mother. I arrived the day before he passed away.

I stayed with my mother for over 3 months to help her but her health started to deteriorate and she was no longer able to walk, I arranged for 4 helpers to come by each day to help her with everyday tasks like washing, dressing and getting meals for her.

I had to return the USA in early December to take care of my home.

My mother being very independent refused to move out of the two story house she had lived in for over 30 years. A couple of weeks after I left I heard she had had a fall. This had happened several times before, but she was not seriously hurt. The local social services sent her to hospital and decided she could no longer look after herself so they placed her in a nursing home some distance from where she had been living. Since then she has been in this nursing home. I have returned to the UK twice this year to help her and to empty her house for her.

The problem is the exorbitant fees for the nursing home. My mother rented the house she was in and thus has no estate to speak of. She receives a little over £4000 per month as a pension and benefits. The cost of the nursing home is over £5800 which means she is virtually destitute as far as any spending money is concerned. All her money goes to the nursing home bill. I have been making up the difference each month, nearly £2000. I am retired and on a fixed income and this money has been coming out of my savings, but those savings are now very low and I cannot help her much longer. I am asking for your help in paying for my mother's nursing home fees. She is a wonderful lady and has been a hard worker all her life. I want her to be happy in her last few years, but the financial strain is telling on both her and me. Every penny of any donations will be used only to pay my mother's nursing home bill.

Thank you.