Hundreds of women from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven and Helensburgh met last week to discuss the local contribution to the WASPI campaign.

The Concord Community Centre was packed to the rafters with women affected by the changes to the state pension age, as well as MSP Jackie Baillie and Dumbarton councillor David McBride.

The “phenomenal” turnout consisted of nearly 400 women who were keen to learn about how the WASPI campaign – Women Against State Pension Inequality – could help them.

WASPI campaigners say 1995 and 2011 changes to the state pension age have brought state pension delays of up to six years for women born in the 1950s.

But the DWP claims measures have been taken to inform women of the change and transitional arrangements have been put in place.

Campaigner Joan Fraser said: “I was astounded at the numbers of women who turned up and saddened to learn that so many still seem unaware of what is happening to 50s women.

“We have been so badly betrayed, and many like me have been campaigning for over two years against this injustice. We know the struggle people who are new to this disgusting realisation face, and hope we can band together to help with some of the form-filling and offering the moral support so many of us need to keep going.”

WASPI coordinator Anne Potter added: “Across Dunbartonshire there are around 10,000 women who have been affected by state pension delays of up to six years and will face a loss of income of around £45k.

“The majority received no notice or warning of these life-changing delays when their state pension age had always been regarded as 60. Thousands are penniless, living in poverty, eating from food banks, unable to pay rent, mortgages.”

The SNP’s MP for West Dunbartonshire, Martin Docherty-Hughes, was unable to attend due to a parliamentary debate on the Syrian situation.

Cllr David McBride, said he was “amazed” to see the numbers attending the meeting.

He told the Reporter: “Those affected shared accounts of how this is affecting a whole generation of women who are either now living in poverty or forced to keep working sometimes with failing health.

“Those in attendance were in no mood to give up this important fight against the injustice"

Following the meeting, Ms Baillie said: “This is a generation of women who have worked hard all of their lives, many of them from as young as 14 and they are being denied a pension that they have contributed to for more than 40 years.”

A DWP spokesman said: “The decision to equalise the state pension age between men and women was made over 20 years ago and achieves a long-overdue move towards gender equality. There are no plans to change the transitional arrangements already in place.”

Additional information from DWP:

• Between April 2009 and March 2011, the DWP sent letters to 1.2million women born between 6th April 1950 and 5th April 1953, informing them of their State Pension age under the 1995 Pensions Act.

• In addition to this, letters were sent to over 5million people between 2012 and 2013 following legislation that accelerated the equalisation of men’s and women’s State Pension ages and brought forward the rise to 66.

• During the 2011 Pensions Act the Government made a concession which slowed down the increase of the state pension age for women so no one would face an increase of more than 18 months compared to the increase as part of the Pensions Act 1995. Transitional arrangements at a cost of £ 1.1 billion were made in order to lessen the impact of these changes for those worst affected.

Further info about the WASPi campaign can be found at www.waspi.co.uk