MORE than 5,000 women from across Stroud are invited to attend an urgent meeting in St Laurence Church, Stroud on Thursday 3 May to discuss unfair changes to pension age.

David Drew, Labour MP for Stroud, has written to 5,400 women in the constituency, born in the 1950s and likely to have been affected by government pension changes, to invite them to the meeting in the church.

It will be an opportunity to find out more about their state pension age, the new National Insurance requirements and how to get involved in the campaign for fairer pensions for women.

“The government’s decision to accelerate the change to state pension age has meant that women born in the 1950s did not receive enough notice to plan for their new circumstances,” said David Drew MP in his letter.

“Many women did not receive any information about the changes at all. The pace of change has been confusing; some women have had to wait an extra two years for their pensions, while others face a wait of six years.”

Over 3.8 million women are thought to be affected nationally.

David is backing the campaign by WASPI, Women Against State Pension Inequality, which is calling for a transitional state pension to bridge the gap for women affected, and compensation for those who have reached state pension age, but have not had enough time to prepare for the change.

The campaigners are keen to point out that they are not asking for preferential treatment but rather time to adjust their finances to accommodate the changes which are being brought into force.

Elizabeth Stanley, local coordinator for the WASPI group in Stroud said: “Some of those women have paid into the system for 45 years and are now expected to ‘sign on’, get an apprenticeship or sign up for Jobseeker’s Allowance. It is an outrage.”

David’s office has already received calls and emails from women from across Stroud who are concerned and outraged about how the change will affect them.

“We have had constituents tell us that they are faced with down-sizing or selling their home, because of the impact of these changes. Others are very worried about their future,” said David.

“Women in their sixties have been unfairly treated and ought to receive compensation for the lack of notice and a bridging pension to help cover the gap between their old State Pension Age of sixty, and their new one,” said David, who has joined the WASPI All Party Parliamentary Group to campaign on the issue.

Coordinator Elizabeth Stanley is keen to engage, educate and empower the women affected by the changes, so that their voices can be heard:"We are not giving up, we are not going away," she said.

All are welcome at the meeting on Thursday 3 May at 5.30pm at St Laurence Church, The Shambles, Stroud, GL5 1AP.

If you are unable to attend or would like to find out more, visit waspi.co.uk/or email strouddistrictwaspi@gmail.com