A WORKING group has been established to help thousands of women who face “devastating consequences” due to recent changes to the pension plan.

Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Liz Saville Roberts has joined forces with women from across her constituency to launch the Dwyfor Meirionnydd WASPI Campaign Group, following a successful meeting held with the Plaid MP and representatives from the WASPI campaign organisation in Dolgellau.

As a first step, Mrs Saville Roberts, working alongside newly-appointed branch co-ordinator Sian Rees from Dolgellau, has organised a series of WASPI workshops to help women affected by pension changes and unfamiliar with the process, to draft letters of complaint to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The first of these meetings was held at Tywyn Library on Tuesday, 21 November and another will take place at Blaenau Ffestiniog Library on Friday, 24 November between 2.30 and 4pm. Those interested in attending the workshops are asked to bring along their National Insurance number and any documentation they may have received from the DWP.

Mrs Saville Roberts said: “Around 4,000 women in Dwyfor Meirionnydd have been affected by the rise in the state pension age, with many given little or no notice and not enough time to make alternative plans, often with devastating consequences.

"The WASPI national campaign aims to persuade the government to make fair transitional arrangements for women born in the 1950s who must now wait up to six more years to receive their state pension.

“I recently held a public meeting in Dolgellau where women from across Dwyfor Meirionnydd were asked to share their experiences and invited to help establish a local WASPI group. As a result of that meeting, we have now established the Dwyfor Meirionnydd WASPI group which aims to bring women from across the constituency together to share ideas and help progress the campaign locally.

“We simply want to get the best outcome for all women affected by these unfair pension changes, many of whom have worked hard for decades without taking a penny out of the system.”