Good morning folks, There has been a great deal of frenzied activity since my last update in preparation for our trip to parliament on the 26th October. Who knew that it could be so difficult to order a banner with seven words on it! Courtesy of a donation from the Police Federation of England and Wales we now have one. The itinerary is progressing well so far and at the moment it looks like this: Suggested point of entry St. Stephens Entrance Pass through security 10am Meet in Westminster Hall 10.15am Group photo 10.30am Liz Saville-Roberts MP - Central Lobby - (Group) 11.00am Madeleine Moon MP - Central Lobby - (Group)/Tim Farron MP Westminster Hall - (Jan M) 12noon Mr Farron has obtained 2 tickets for PMQs for Jan M 12.30pm Hand out lapel badges to MPs as they leave PMQs - Central Lobby 12.50pm Sarah Newton MP - Jubilee Cafe (Wendy W) 2pm Julie Cooper MP - (Barbara T) /John Stevenson MP - Portcullis House (Sharon T) 2.30pm David Winnick MP - Central Lobby - (Louise W/ John E/Cathryn H) Mr Nazir Afzal CEO of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has also agreed to meet with us at a time to be arranged; I have high hopes for the meeting. NARPO CEO Steve Edwards and President Ian Potter will also be in attendance. Mick Hulme will be representing the PFEW. We will not be attending all meetings as a group; can everyone attending please email me their mobile number if they haven’t done so already - we do not want to lose anyone at any point! Lapel pins are on order courtesy of a donation from staunch supporter Dave Conroy. Thanks to an anonymous donation we have been able to pay for our order to be fast tracked and the VAT has also been paid. Some folks have elected to wear campaign tee-shirts on the day - they are black with Col’s cap and our signature rose on the front (the photo on our petition) and ‘Police Widows’ Pension Campaign’ on the back in white. It has been suggested that we each take with us a photograph of our officer in an effort to remind everyone that our loved ones were real people, and it is their service to their communities that we will be seeking to highlight. I have produced a briefing document to take with us outlining the points we will be raising with our MPs and Mr Afzal. As I have said previously we are experiencing considerable problems with petition updates - some supporters no longer receive them - it doesn’t bear thinking about the impact that this may be having upon our campaign, as some have clearly assumed that we have given up. Please share the link to my updates far and wide in an effort to combat this. Our petition is not the only one affected in this way. In stark contrast some supporters are now receiving a high volume of emails purporting to be from me, but on opening they contain information about petitions totally unconnected to this one. I am awaiting communication from Change.org regarding their progress in dealing with the above. Do we have any constituents of MP Kit Malthouse whose constituency is North West Hampshire? He is aware of our campaign as he has met with one of our supporters on a number of occasions, but Mick is unable to attend on the 26th and Mr Malthouse would like to continue to support us. Farida Gulamali can you please send me an email in order for me to send you a briefing document - all I have at the moment is your mobile number - many thanks. CathrynHall@outlook.com As the Government are quite emphatic that there will be no further amendments to the 1987 Police Pension Regulations, we have now to turn to our extended police family once more to weigh in on our behalf - we have considerable numbers at our disposal if all serving and retired officers (plus their families and friends) come together to assist us. Thank you in advance to those of you that will be attending on the 26th - follow the link for information regarding visits to parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/access/ Best wishes as always, Cathryn