Campaigners march through Harrogate to fight for fairer pension arrangements

Dozens of residents and supporters from across the country turned out to support the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) event on Thursday, to coincide with International Women's Day.

WASPI member Christine Hodgkiss said it is important now more than ever to take action and lobby the Government to show the full impact of increasing the pension age.

The group's stance is that changes to pensions under the 2011 Pension Act were implemented too quickly, when many women had already made retirement plans.

WASPI said increasing the pension age to 65 with "little notice," left a lot of women with no time to make alternative arrangements.

Christine said: "If you don't stand up now to something like this, it will carry on. Eventually there might not be pensions. We have worked all our lives, and to move the goalpost is wrong.

"We really want to raise awareness of the situation. A lot of people don't know where they can get help or advice from.

"A lot of people turned out to support the WASPI event and help us to raise awareness, which was great to see."

An open meeting will be held at The Winter Gardens Wetherspoons on March 27 at 2pm for anyone who is interested in finding out more about WASPI's campaigning in Harrogate.