Waspi chair named Platinum Champion
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Chair and finance director of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign, Angela Madden, has been named a ‘Platinum Champion’ by the Royal Voluntary Service, for going “the extra mile to improve the lives of others".
Formerly a women’s civil defence organisation set up in 1938, today RVS offers services to older and housebound people. During the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last weekend, it named Madden one of 70 winners invited to Buckingham Palace picked from over 3,000 nominations.
The awards were launched to “celebrate extraordinary volunteers who go the extra mile to improve the lives of others”, RVS said. The judging panel includes HRH Duchess of Cornwall, Felicity Kendall OBE, Mylene Klass and Elaine Paige OBE.
'We intend to carry on fighting'
Waspi demands compensation for women born in the 1950s who saw their state pension age increased from 60 to 65, saying the changes were made without giving women adequate notice. Another group, Backto60, in September 2020 lost an appeal about a ruling that increases in women’s state pension age did not discriminate against 1950s-born women.
“It is a real honour to be recognised in this way, but I’m accepting the award on behalf of the whole WASPI team who have done so much in the past seven years to win justice for women born in the 1950s. This weekend will be a great celebration both of Her Majesty’s long reign and of the inroads we have made with our campaign. But the real celebration for WASPI women can only come when the government finally recognises the injustice meted out to us,” said Madden.
“Fair, fast compensation for DWP’s maladministration is the only way to resolve this issue. We see the award as a big boost to our campaign, and we intend to carry on fighting until ministers hear us.”
Co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women, Andrew Gwynne MP, added: “The WASPI campaign is already a major success story and Angela couldn’t deserve this award more. I am proud to support the group in their quest for justice, which is very much overdue.”
Last year, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found the Department for Work and Pensions guilty of maladministration. The maladministration led to a delay in DWP writing directly to women about changes in State Pension age, the ombudsman said, adding that affected women should have had at least 28 months’ more individual notice of the changes.
