Campaign group calls for Cotswold residents to join Westminster pensions protest on International Women’s Day

The Gloucestershire and Cotswolds branch of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) is organising coaches from Cirencester Beeches car park and Cainscross in Stroud to London on March 8.

The demonstration, on International Women’s Day and Budget Day, is set to include campaigners from across the country, stationed outside the Houses of Parliament.

The changing of the pension age for women from 63 to 66, to be put in place in October 2020, was done with little to no notice by the Government, according to the group, with protests aiming to bring about a ‘transitional payment’ to women born after April 6, 1951 to help bridge the gap until state pension age.

In a statement on the WASPI website, it says: “The aim of the campaign is to achieve fair and transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s (born on or after April 6, 1951).

“This translates into a ‘bridging’ pension to cover the gap from age 60 [the original retirement age for those born after 1951] until state pension age (SPA) – not means-tested and with compensation for losses for those women who have already reached their SPA.

“There are no specific age groups within the period mentioned above that are favoured above others.”

Maud Lomberg, of WASPI Gloucestershire and Cotswolds, led efforts to collect more than 1,200 signatures from appearances in Gloucester, Stroud and then Cirencester last year, which was then presented to Parliament in October.

Ms Lomberg, 60, who runs a small vintage textile business, said changes were made too quickly and did not allow for ‘proper provisions’ to be made, particularly for those self-employed.

“We really feel us women have been shafted by the government,” she said. “We were not given the chance to make proper provisions.”

If you would like to get involved in the demonstration or learn more about WASPI email waspi.claire@gmail.com or visit waspi.co.uk.