A BARNARD CASTLE woman is to go on her first protest aged 65.
Vivian Guy will be travelling to 10 Downing Street later this month to take part in a Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) event.
The former nurse had to give up her work at Beaconsfield Care Home shortly before the Covid lockdown because she developed early onset asthma – but because of changes in the law she does not yet qualify for a state pension. Mrs Guy said: “I should have had my pension when I was 60 but I haven’t and I won’t be getting it until I am 66. I am living on my savings. I am lucky I have a good husband who pays the household bills. They never informed me [about changes to the retirement age] and I still haven’t been informed.”
Mrs Guy, who made the headlines 28 years ago when she gave birth to quadruplet girls while living on a farm near Bowes, says it will be quite daunting to travel by train to London.
She said: “I have been on the farm for 30 years so just going to Darlington is a big day out. So, it is a big deal for me. I am having to draw on my savings for the train ticket but I feel that strongly about it. Other ladies are in dire straits and they are having to work and they are not up to it. We want to remind the Prime Minister about these ladies.
“We are owed about £55,000 each but we will never get it. It has got me going. I am that mad.”
Despite the challenges she faces, she remains determined to be part of the protest.
She concluded: “I am a WASPI warrior.”
