WEST MERCIA GROUP OFFICERS – 2024/25
Chair: Valerie Farmer – 01684 569266 – valerie.farmer@tiscali.co.uk
Vice Chair: Malcolm Moore – 01531 660457 – malcolm.m.a.moore@btinternet.com
Treasurer: Helen Connelly – 01905 830451 – helenfconnelly12@gmail.com
Secretary: David Humphreys – 01562 631188 – dnhumphreys@gmail.com (David also covers Membership matters)
All our Group Officers were duly re-elected at our Group AGM in March to serve for a further year. Likewise, our trusty Accounts Examiner, Denise Preston, was re-appointed. The Group AGM also ratified our Statement of Accounts for 2023.
OUR CSPA GROUP
West Mercia Group began life in February 2022, following the merger of the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Group and the closed Shropshire Group. We have over 700 members in the Three Counties. CSPA nationally has about 32,000 members.
Our informal quarterly meetings last no more than 2 hours. Those at Hereford, Wellington and Worcester are preceded by an optional pub lunch. Meetings end with tea and biscuits.
We plan to complement the in-person meetings with occasional online gatherings using the free Zoom platform. The Zoom link will be sent to everyone in our 140 strong email group. If you wish to join our email group, please contact the Group Secretary. We also produce a quarterly newsletter which we aim to issue at least 3 weeks before each quarterly meeting.
YOUR CIVIL SERVICE PENSION
MyCSP pays your Civil Service pension. Its contact details are: MyCSP, PO Box 2017, Liverpool, L69 2BU; Phone: 0300 123 6666 (Mon-Fri: 0830 -1800). Full information about the pension scheme is on the scheme website at: https://civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk
including various “what to expect” guides. You can also register for the Civil Service Pension Portal, which gives online access to your pension information. If you experience any problems with your pension, which MyCSP can’t or won’t resolve, please contact the Group Secretary for help and initial advice. More complicated matters will be referred to the CSPA Pensions & Personal Case Manager to pursue.
WEST MERCIA GROUP MEETINGS IN 2024
Our schedule of Group meeting for the remainder of 2024 is as follows:
- 2.00pm on Monday 17 June at Eignbrook United Reformed Church, Hereford.
- 1.30pm on Wednesday 19 June at Wellington Methodist Church.
- 2.00pm on Monday 16 September at Quaker Meetings, Worcester
- 1.30pm on Wednesday 18 September at Shrewsbury United Reformed Church.
- 2.00pm on Monday 9 December 2024 at Quaker Meetings, Worcester.
Meeting reminders will appear in the newsletters, and members of our email group will receive copies of the meeting papers. At our June meetings, we will be considering our input to the CSPA National AGM in October. If you cannot attend one of the June meetings but have a bee in your bonnet about an issue affecting older people that you think can usefully be raised at the National AGM, please contact the Group Secretary.
LATER LIFE AMBITIONS MANIFESTO – “STANDING BY PENSIONERS”
Later Life Ambitions (LLA) represents over 200,000 members of the CSPA, the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, and the National Association of Retired Police Officers. Its manifesto – https://www.laterlifeambitions.co.uk/manifesto – was launched at a Westminster Parliamentary event in November 2023 and sets out six aims for a better future for the 11 million older people in the UK. LLA has developed an election toolkit, the key element of which is a template letter/email to be sent to all MPs. We have tidied up the template and our suggested version was issued with the last newsletter. If you need a Word version of the template letter/email, the Group Secretary will provide one on request. There are 12 MPs in our area, and we need every one of them to get letters from their constituents. Very few members appear to have written to their MP so far. Please do so soon and keep the Group Secretary informed of progress.
THE CHARITY FOR CIVIL SERVANTS (CfCS)
CfCS, formerly the Civil Service Benevolent Fund, helps current and former civil servants with whatever problems they may have. Its vision is of a lifelong community of people offering effective support for each other when life takes a turn for the worse. Support includes financial assistance and a range of services, including help with bereavement, residential care, relationships, caring, dementia, and long-term illness. It works with specialist organisations – such as Macmillan, Dementia UK and Relate – and signposts other helpful advice.
Find out more by visiting the CfCS website www.foryoubyyou.org.uk or call its free confidential helpline on 0800 056 2424. CfCS is a charity and not a membership organisation, so all serving and former civil servants can ask it for help.
NATIONAL PENSIONERS CONVENTION (NPC)
CSPA is affiliated to the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), the largest pensioners organisation in the UK. NPC campaigns for and promotes the welfare and interests of all pensioners, as a way of securing dignity, respect and financial security in retirement. It organises rallies, lobbies of MPs, and makes submissions to Government on policies affecting older people. Its Biennial Delegate Conference, which met in March 2024, elected the NPC national officers and determined its policies for the coming 2 years. NPC also stages an annual 2-day “Pensioners Convention” every year in Blackpool. It is hoped to stage it this year in early September.
NPC’s monthly bulletin “Campaign” is sent by the Group Secretary to the 140 members of our email group. Visit the NPC website at https://www.npcuk.org to receive it. The latest edition of Campaign covers energy charges; the launch of NPC’s “250 Club” lottery; the new NPC President; the campaign for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing; and the “Better Buses” petition.
West Mercia Group is affiliated to NPC’s regional organisation, the West Midlands Pensioners Convention (WMPC). We attend its meetings in Birmingham. WMPC’s informative website is at https://wmpc.org.uk and it produces a quarterly newsletter. Its Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/7125023377569919
CSPA OFFERS & SERVICES
The main CSPA membership offers and services are:
• Financial planning advice by Lighthouse (08000 85 85 90).
• Motorfinity is a competitive car purchase and leasing service.
• MyCarNeedsA gives access to over 4000 vetted garages.
• CSIS home and motor Insurance and the new CSIS travel insurance.
• Prepaid MyCashBack cards offer between 3% and 15% cashback discounts on purchases from stores like M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Argos, B&Q, Homebase and Curry’s/PC World.
• Audiology and hearing services by Hearing Star (0800 0323 771).
• Lyons Davidson Solicitors (01752 300 584) for free legal advice.
• Discounted lost luggage protection scheme (TRACE ME Smart ID).
• BC Technologies provide free computer support (01369 706656).
Some of the offers are accessed online, but many can still be accessed by phone. The Group Secretary will help with access to the offers and services, in the Members’ Area of the national website at https://www.cspa.co.uk and in “The Pensioner” magazine.
CSPA – “PROTECTING WHAT YOU’VE EARNED”
West Mercia Group brings together over 700 local CSPA members in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Worcestershire, with a view to stimulating interest and support for CSPA’s objects, which are:
- To maintain and improve the purchasing power of all pensions from Civil Service and related schemes;
- To initiate and participate in action which will benefit pensioners;
- To promote the economic and social well-being of pensioners.
Our Group meets quarterly in various locations in the Three Counties, issues a quarterly Newsletter, communicates additionally through our 140-strong email group, and through occasional Zoom gatherings. We know that not everyone can attend meetings in our far-flung area. So, if there are
local concerns – e.g. bus services, social care, health care, public services such as libraries and public toilets – please contact a Group Officer.
We rely on volunteers to keep our Group going. Without “new blood” our long-term future as a Group cannot be assured. If you’ve got some spare time and an interest in older person’s issues, we can put it to good use.
CSPA is a membership organisation. Please spread the good news about CSPA to all your retired civil and public service contacts. The discounted cost of our CSIS travel insurance may well save them more than the CSPA annual subscription! Prospective members can download an application form at the national website https://www.cspa.co.uk and post it free to CSPA HQ; or call 020 8688 8418 for a membership pack; or join easily and quickly online.
CSPA also has a Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/cspalliance.
Continuing problems with the new CSPA national membership database have caused some members not to receive the quarterly magazine “The Pensioner”. The next issue of the magazine should come through your letterbox by early June. If you don’t receive it, please contact the Group Secretary. It is also published online on the national website – https://www.cspa.co.uk – if you want to look at previous issues.
If you believe we can do things differently/better, locally and/or nationally, please tell us.
