A DETERMINED group of women campaigning for fairer pensions are preparing for a protest march in the capital.

Members of the Barrow in Furness and District Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group are heading to London on October 10 to lobby politicians.

Around 12 of its over 140 members are planning to join hundreds of similar groups from across the country to march from Hyde Park to Parliament Square.

Catherine Williams, who is one of the local coordinators for the group, said a march over a year ago involved 7000 people.

The WASPI campaign was set up to address the inequality caused by changes made to the 1995 and 2011 State Pension Acts. These sought to bridge the gap in retirement age between men and women, but as a result, meant thousands of women would have to wait longer for their pension.

Mrs Williams, 64, said women had been given insufficient warning of the changes and many had been left struggling to make ends meet. The group campaigns to pressure the government to compensate women for the payments they would have received if the rules had not changed.

While working as a nurse at Furness General Hospital, Mrs Williams believed she would receive a state pension when she turned 60. However, the changes to the rules mean she is waiting to receive the pension which is worth around £500 a week.

Mrs Williams now relies on her NHS pension and husband Bernard’s state pension.

“There are lots of people who are on their own who are having real financial difficulty,” she said.