( CNN ) Online solidarity strikes again . A fundraising campaign to support a disabled pensioner who was a victim of a mugging attack has raised more than £300,000 ( $ 452,000 ) towards a new home . An assailant shoved Alan Barnes , 67 -- who is just four feet six inches tall and partially blind -- to the ground and demanded he hand over his money in Gateshead , a town in the north east of England . Barnes suffered a broken collar bone , but his attacker left empty handed . Beautician Katie Cutler read about the attack on a British newspaper website and created a fundraising page via the GoFundMe website . She says that Alan is too scared to return home and she would like to raise £500 to help towards a new house . `` After reading his article on the Mirror.co.uk I was so upset that anyone could target a disabled pensioner & be so cruel , '' she says on the page . `` We ca n't take away what has happened but with a little donation we can make the future a prettier one & help towards the cost of his new home . Thank you all . '' A staggering £302,000 ( $ 455,000 ) later -- and growing -- Cutler took to Twitter to express her gratitude towards the generosity of the online community . The donations were not just monetary either -- Cutler says a man has offered to fit a new kitchen for Barnes ; another has pledged to decorate his new home . Northumbria Police are still searching for the attacker and appealing for further information . Detective Constable Chris Neil said : `` This was a cowardly assault on a vulnerable man who was n't able to defend himself . His disability means he is partially sighted and quite short and it 's disgraceful that someone would target him . '' But the outpouring of support has left many with a restored faith in humanity , and the fundraising continues : . Other hugely successful crowd-funding campaigns include over $ 5.4 million raised by Stephen Sutton , a teenager with incurable cancer who eventually passed away . Sutton gave the money to the Teenage Cancer Trust -- the charity that supported him through his illness .
A disabled pensioner from the north east of England was mugged and left with a broken collar bone . After reading his story on a British website , beautician Katie Cutler organized an online fundraising page to fund his new home . Donations have surpassed £300K ( $ 452K ) and are growing , as well as offers to fit a kitchen and decorate his home .