Established in 1986 Lewisham Pensioners Forum has worked steadfastly to provide a voice for older people, challenging local and national policies that negatively affect the daily lives of older people. We have no political or party allegiance and while we value the funding we receive from LB Lewisham, we remain independent.
Run by volunteers from 55 upwards, we campaign for; a state pension that is linked to earnings and is above the official poverty level, for Free UK wide travel on all forms of public transport, for free long-term social care funded from general taxation, for a public National Health Service that is free from the ‘profit’ motivations of private providers and investors, for accessible and affordable adult education and leisure facilities that value lifelong learning and activity, for a society that values older people and brings an end to the discrimination that older people face in the goods and services that are available to them and for a winter fuel allowance of £500 allowance that means older people can live in a warm home without having to choose between eating or heating.
Sympathy and good wishes from politicians are no substitute for political will and the support for policies that would improve the lives of Britain’s existing 11 million pensioners. At the next General Election we will call on all candidates to support ‘A Pensioners Manifesto’, produced by the National Pensioners Convention that will put the concerns of pensioners at the heart of the political process.
