Good morning folks,

I have received this message from Steve Edwards CEO of NARPO - the date has been set for their drop-in event in Westminster:

“Our Parliamentary drop-in is now arranged for Wednesday 1st May and is on our website together with template letters to send to MP’s.

In this our Centenary year we are reinvigorating our Widows Pension For Life Campaign and to further our campaign we have arranged a Parliamentary drop-in reception to take place between 2pm and 4pm on Wednesday 1st May in Room R, Portcullis House.

The reception will be a good opportunity to reach Members from both Houses.

We encourage NARPO members to write to their MP to highlight the campaign and a template letter for members to complete is attached and available via our website at: https://www.narpo.org/widows-pension-life/ …..”

I have tweaked NARPO's draft letter/email as not everyone here is a NARPO member; please feel free to use the letter below to encourage your MP to attend the drop-in on your behalf.

NARPO recommend that include your full postal address including your postcode so that they can verify that you live in their constituency.

However, you may have received support from MPs from other constituencies and members of the House of Lords (including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Durham) please write to them too and invite them along:

“Dear [Mr/Ms] [Surname],

I am writing to you as a member of the Police Widows' Pension Campaign. We are campaigning for parity with RUC widows in Northern Ireland and pensions for life for all police widows.

In Northern Ireland RUC widows retain their widow's pension upon remarriage, co-habitation or civil partnership irrespective of the circumstances of the death of their spouse.

On Wednesday 1st May 2019 The National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) will be holding a drop-in for parliamentarians to raise awareness about the lack of equality in pre 2006 police widows' pension regulations throughout the UK and I would like to invite you to attend.

NARPO represents nearly 90,000 former police officers of all ranks together with their widows, widowers and former partners. NARPO’s primary concern is to campaign and promote measures for the benefit of its members, with a particular focus on pensions and welfare.

There are now four different approaches in the UK in relation to police widows' pensions and how they should be dealt with should an individual remarry, co-habit or form a civil partnership.

For those of us that remain overshadowed by the 1987 Police Pension Regulations, if we remarry or move in with a partner our pension is revoked.

As a direct result of our campaign the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 were amended; the amendment came into force January 18th 2016.

The widows of police officers killed in the line of duty and covered by the 1987 Police Pension Regulations, will now receive their pensions for life if they were in receipt of a 'special' or 'augmented' pension and remained unmarried and were not living with a partner by 1st April 2015.

The widows of firefighters killed on duty also benefit from these changes.

On October 5th 2015 the Scottish Government announced the same amendment to the pensions paid to the widows of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty in Scotland.

Scotland differs from England and Wales in that widows who were entitled to a 'special' or 'augmented' pension before they remarried or moved in with a partner - have had their pensions reinstated and back-dated to 1st October 2015.

This inequality leaves widows like me in a dreadful position, forced to make a choice between financial security or isolation and loneliness.

[Include your personal experience of the 1987 regulations here if you wish]

The Police Widows' Pension Campaign and NARPO are therefore calling for the Government to rectify this inequality and would like to talk to MPs about our concerns, and how you may be able to support widows like me.

As my MP, I would be very grateful if you could spare time in your busy schedule to attend this drop-in. It is taking place between 2pm - 4pm on Wednesday 1st May in Room R, Portcullis House.

[If you will be attending please tell your MP that you will be there to speak to them]

Please let me know if you are able to attend and if there is anything further that you can do to help rectify this very unfair situation.

Yours sincerely,

------------- ---------------”

Please let me know how your MP responds.

I hope that everyone that previously shared their personal stories with NARPO and expressed a willingness to attend this event will be able to attend on 1st May.

PMQs (Prime Minister's Questions) takes place on a Wednesday so it is likely that your MP will be in Parliament on that day.

If you are attending please send me an email with the heading 'I Will be Attending the Drop-In.'

Portcullis House is across the road from Big Ben in very close proximity to Westminster Underground station. Follow this link and look for 'E' on the map and the entrance to the building at '4' on Victoria Embankment:

https://www.parliament.uk/documents/facilities/maps/colmap.pdf

I await confirmation from my employer that I may take holiday on May 1st, but I sincerely hope to meet with some of you wonderful people on the day.

Best wishes as always,

Cathryn

CathrynHall11@gmail.com