Hi folks, Last year on Col’s birthday I declared it to be ‘International Colin’s Day’ and asked you to give him a cheery wave and a smile. Some of you joined in the fun and indulged in a glass of your favourite tipple to celebrate what would have been his 68th birthday. This year on International Colin’s day we are celebrating not just Col’s birthday but the reinstatement of the pensions of some of our remarried police widows in Scotland. One such lady had her pension reinstated on December 31st 2015, but she refuses to celebrate until we achieve parity with Northern Ireland and lifelong pensions for all police survivors. I am very touched that she feels this way, but for those that are being granted justice at last - please feel as happy as the rest of us feel on your behalf. Scotland with its forward thinking attitude towards police widows’ pensions affords us further opportunities to progress our campaign. Those of you in Scotland that will now enjoy lifelong pensions, and especially those that are going through the process of having their pension reinstated or indeed having already received their first payment – I would ask you to write to your MP or MSP explaining the positive impact that the changes will have upon the life of you and your families, and reminding them that parity with the RUC ladies in Northern Ireland is still our collective goal. I have produced a lengthy briefing document explaining in full our argument for parity with Northern Ireland and also a shorter overview of our achievements so far. For those of you wishing to update your MP/MSP send me an email to CathrynHall@outlook.com for your copy of these documents. I would like you to join me in sending heartfelt congratulations to Robert Keylock’s widow Amanda as she remarried in December. You will remember that Amanda is David Cameron’s constituent. As Robert was killed returning home from work and Amanda had not remarried by April 1st 2015, she will now benefit from the changes in England and Wales and will receive her pension for life. During our visit to Downing Street in October Amanda pledged her continuing support for our campaign; it is testament to the unity of the police family that members that will benefit from the current round of changes are prepared to continue the fight for those of us that won’t. Amanda and Russell I wish you a very happy married life together. I appreciate that campaigning is tiresome, exhausting and the majority of time downright frustrating, but it is the consistent and sustained pressure that we have brought to bear upon the Government that has enabled us to achieve that which was said to be impossible. The fact that individuals are now in receipt of their reinstated pensions is the direct result of your hard work and determination and I congratulate each and every one of you. I have received an email from Richard Graham MP – in his email Mr Graham suggested that we should not, “…let the perfect be the enemy of the very good.” The inference being that we should be grateful for the changes so far and to pack up our ball and go home. Anything less than a ‘perfect’ result for all police widows is unacceptable and for us this fight is far from over. Police officers give excellent service to their communities when they as the Home Secretary says, “….put themselves in harm’s way to deal with violent criminals and dangerous situations” and this should be reflected in the pensions that their widows receive regardless of how or when they met their deaths. We will keep fighting. Happy birthday Col - you are loved beyond words and forever in our hearts.