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What's new?

 

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NPC News - Railfuture - Downloads -  Travel News  -  General Items  -  Website News

 

Railway Pensions Commission

The RPC's Final Report has now been published. The full report or a five-page Executive Summary are available as downloads from their website - you can also view the evidence presented to the Commission.  Click here to go to the RPC website.

Centenary of the State Pension 1908 - 2008

The State Pension is 100 years old this year.  To mark the occasion, Kate Hoey MP has tabled the following  Early Day Motion - a growing number of MPs from all parties have added their signatures:

"That this House pays tribute to the pension pioneers who campaigned from 1898 until 1908 to secure the first old age state pension; acknowledges the importance of the state recognising it has a responsibility to provide a decent income in retirement for all without resort to means-testing; expresses concern that after 100 years the state pension is still significantly below the official poverty level; and calls on the Government to mark the centenary of the state pension in 2008 by raising the basic state pension for all pensioners above the official poverty level and restoring its link with earnings or prices, whichever is the greater."
EDM 658

Why not ask your MP if he or she has signed this Motion?

NPC News

Click here to skip to Downloads Section, where you will find monthly NPC Campaign Bulletins and other BTPF Resources

The BTPF is affiliated to the National Pensioners' Convention and sends delegates to their meetings and committees.  Peter Rayner, our former Chairman, provides regular summaries of NPC activities. Click here to go to the downloads section (below), where you will also find recent Campaign Bulletins.

For more detailed information on what the National Pensioners' Convention is doing on behalf of all pensioners, click here to go to their website.

Peter Rayner

 

For information on the
Campaigns write to NPC at
19-23 Ironmonger Row
London EC1V 3QN 
or email admin@npcuk.org.

 NPC Conference News from Peter Rayner

Click here to download a copy of this article in full

Peter Rayner and Archie Birt attended the biennial NPC Conference in Nottingham in June 2007 and Peter has now been elected a Vice President of the NPC.  Here is a summary of the main debates and the motions adopted.

Administration matters:  it was decided not to move to an annual Conference, mainly on grounds of cost, as the NPC has only three full-time staff and the 'admin' involved in running a conference every year would be too great.

Representation:  the gender issue was debated.  Rather than use positive discrimination to involve more women in committees and councils, conference decided to stay with the "on merit" system in place now.  It was argued that as more women who have enjoyed equal status with men enter retirement, the balance will eventually shift.  However, this view was fiercely opposed by those who felt that women suffer most from inequalities in  pension provision, especially if they have taken time out of work to raise a family.  Pension credit was described as a 30-page form with 70 questions, which many older people could not fill in without assistance - the result is that many who could benefit do not apply.

Post Office closures:  a motion was passed condemning Post Office closures.

Public Toilet provision and safety:  There was a call for better provision of public toilets and for greater safety through improved staffing levels on railway stations and in high streets and shopping precincts.

Private Care Homes:  an emergency motion was carried unanimously, criticising the recent Appeal Court judgement on Private Care Homes and their status.

Discussion papers:  a number of papers were circulated regarding government statistics on pensions, Heath and Carer issues.  These will be presented to the next General Purposes Committee.

NPC National Council:  the sad passing of Barry Medlock resulted in a vacancy on the National Council, which Sam Reed has agreed to fill.  Our three representatives are Peter Rayner, Bill Baxendale and Sam Reed, with Stan Robinson as "reserve".  As Peter will attend in his own right as a Vice President, this may result in a further National Council vacancy - in this case Archie Birt is willing to fill this vacancy, but the situation needs to be clarified first.

So why should BTPF be involved with the NPC?

Our initial involvement was because many of our members got more from the State Pension than from our fund. (Over 60% of Railway pensioners get more from the State than our fund). We felt we could influence government better to restore the link with earnings. NPC, like BTPF, is political in that it wishes to influence government, but it is not Party Political. 

I am often asked what we get from being affiliated to NPC since, for many of us, our pensions are considered secure and reasonable even in these difficult times. Also our rail travel has been less threatened than many of us feared at the onset of privatisation. So why bother? 

NPC now have a number of working parties responding to the Executive and arising from the work they do it is possible to point to some of the issues that affect older people today. 

BTPF and NPC "Common Ground"

Click here to download Peter's recent paper on NPC Campaigns and their relevance to BTPF members.

To find out more about the NPC, click here to go to their website - click here to download a copy of the NPC's alternative White Paper for Pensioners.

Download Centre

You will find other items to download within the relevant news item or article. I am in the process of re-organising downloadable resources to make them easier to find.  Please bear with me while I have a tidy up!  (Errrrr.....when I get around to it!)

Website Administrator

BTPF Resources

NEW - BTPF Recruitment Poster - this was devised at the request of one of our Branches for a stand at an Open Day, but it would be equally useful for Staff Noticeboards, if you can persuade a former colleague to display a copy. There are two versions - one is a single sheet; the other has the text spread across two sheets.  Page Size is set to the default A4, but if you have access to a printer that will take A3 paper, either of these documents could be printed larger: you will need to amend the Page Setup. The two-sheet version can be glued or 'sellotaped' together to make a large poster if required.  The files (MS Word 2003 format) can be copied to disk and taken to a printer, but be warned - the price is likely to be fairly high!

Single sheet version - click here to download

Two sheet version - click here to download

BTPF Constitution - click here if you wish to download a copy of the Federation's Constitution and Standing Orders.  This is the current version, approved at the Annual General Meeting of March, 2006.

NPC News and Campaign Bulletins

Here are some recent NPC News and Campaign items for you to download:

 

NEW - NPC Campaign Bulletin No. 25 (Sept 2008) - click here to download a copy

NPC Campaign Bulletin No. 24 (Aug 2008) - click here to download a copy

NPC Campaign Bulletin No. 23 (July 2008) - click here to download a copy

NPC Campaign Bulletin No. 22 (June 2008) - click here to download a copy

AGE (European Older People's Platform) Conference, Nuremberg, June 2008:  Click here to download a paper presented by Peter Rayner, representing the National Pensioners' Convention.  The subject is older people's access to Information & Communication Technology and its effect on their lives.

Prof. Walker's address to the NPC - click here for an account of Professor Walker's talk to the NPC Council on 27 June 2006

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Railfuture

Our former Chairman, Peter Rayner, is also a regular contributor to Railwatch, the quarterly journal of Railfuture - for those of you still interested in the railway and its future this is the campaigning arm of the Railway Development Society, an independent organisation committed to a better passenger and freight rail network.

Click here to view Railwatch or here to visit the Railfuture website.

NEW - To download a copy of a recent article by Peter on the future of rail routes, presented to the Railfuture Summer Conference 2008, click here.

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Travel News

Up-to-date news of travel facilities and current special offers for active and retired Rail Staff are always available on ATOC's website - click here for details.

 

Getting to the National Memorial Arboretum - Arriva have announced the start of a new bus service, serving the National Memorial Arboretum. 

The 112 service has been reintroduced from Birmingham to Burton upon Trent, calling at Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield. The service will call additionally at the National Memorial Arboretum. The service currently runs hourly and starts and terminates at Burton upon Trent Railway station. On Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, the 7E service calls at the Arboretum.  

Click here for a link to Arriva's website, showing details of these services. You can then click on the purple 'Timetable' button for an up-to-date timetable.

Alternatively click here to download a copy of the timetable for this route (published April 2008).  This is provided for your guidance only - please check bus times before you set off.

Travel Facilities, Pensions Management, has changed its name - it is now known as rpmi.  The address remains as before, but the email address is changing to travel@rpmi.co.uk. (The old email address will forward messages to the new address in the interim.)

Oyster Card with Privs - did you know you can now get an Oyster Card for travel on London's buses, tubes and local train services including priv. rates for the rail element (tube and train)?  This offers a substantial saving on tube fares, as your priv. is based on the Oyster rate (currently £1.50) rather than the prevailing cash rate, which rose to £4 in January 2007.  Don't forget you will also benefit from the lower Oyster rate on buses.  

New applications: You can download an application form from ATOC's  website (make sure you download the Retired Staff version - form ref. 5002).  When you have filled in the form, send it to Travel Section, rpmi, Darlington, for authorisation.  You must then take your completed and authorised form to an LU Booking Office, together with your (Retired) Staff Travel Card.  Note that to get priv. fares on Oyster you MUST use the special application form - the normal form supplied by LU does not cater for privs.  LU Enquiry Counters do not process applications for priv. Oyster cards - this is only done at LU Booking Offices.

Renewals:  Once you have obtained a priv. Oyster Card, you must take your (Retired) Staff Travel Card to an LU Booking Office every year (when you receive your new one from Darlington) to enable LU staff to register your new card on the system. There is no need to complete another application form.  (If you fail to do this the full public Oyster fare will be deducted from 01 July each year.)

International Privilege Tickets and Reservations - arrangement to purchase these have changed (as of October 2006) - go to ATOC's website for full details of the new postal address, phone numbers and email address for IPTIS at Deutsche Bahn UK Booking Centre.  You can also download the new version of the IPTIS booking form.

Eurostar bookings - there is a new outlet for Eurostar bookings - Ashford Contact Centre, tel: 08457 660421 beyond.eurostar@eurostar.co.uk. Business hours 09.00 - 17.00 Monday to Friday.  This is available for Eurostar only (i.e. London / Paris / Marne-la-Vallée / Avignon / Ski trains) and payment is accepted only by credit card.  When making a booking please ensure you quote both your International Reduced Rate Card and Staff Travel Card numbers.

Italian Railways (FS) have reinstated international free passes for retired staff and their dependents, subject to a minimum of 11 years service.  Check ATOC's website for full details of this very welcome news.

Transport Direct - click here to use this comprehensive travel website, which was launched in September 2004 - there is a feedback form on the website so that you can give your comments or suggest improvements.  It will work out journeys by road, rail or bus and provides route maps for car journeys.

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General News Items

Conference Paper - Our Chairman, Peter Rayner, has presented a briefing paper on concessionary transport for older people to the Department of Transport - click here to download.

A seat was installed and dedicated near to the tree planted by BTPF at the National Memorial Arboretum in October 2004.  From 27 April 2008 an hourly Arriva bus service calls at the Arboretum - click here for further details.

To date, around 50,000 young trees have been planted to mark the 20th Century and the people who lived, worked and died during that period.  The trees represent the armed services, the Merchant Navy, many civilian organisations and even ordinary families, but up to now there has been no memorial to railwaymen and women.

BTPF_Tree.jpg (47693 bytes)

Click on image to enlarge.

The NMA is at Alrewas in East Staffordshire and is the nation's living tribute to the people of the 20th Century and a gift in their memory for present and future generations to reflect upon and enjoy - it was inspired by a visit to the Arlington Cemetery in Washington, USA

In April 2004 the Anglia Branch dedicated their own tree to commemorate the work and lives of railwaymen and women in the region.  Geoff Humphreys has kindly supplied the picture (above) of the two memorial plaques.  The inscriptions read:

"Planted for British Transport Pensioners Federation - Anglia
In memory of all those who were employed by BRITISH RAIL and / or SHIPPING and lived in EAST ANGLIA"

"BTPF British Transport Pensioners Federation
Planted in memory of all those who were employed by the Railway Industry"

National Archive of Railway Oral History - this is a project, funded by a Lottery grant, to compile an oral history of the railway over the last fifty years by collecting the reminiscences of railwaymen and women.  Click here to visit the NRM website.

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Progress with the BTPF Web

The problems we experienced during the Summer of 2007 are now behind us and we have changed our hosting service to British Telecom.  Many thanks to their DNS Support Team for the invaluable assistance provided with the migration.

The BTPF website was launched in July 2002, and many Branches now provide regular updates - we have been amazed by the variety of activities you get up to and by all the hard work that goes into organising rambles, holidays, day trips and lunches.  When we first started, many pensioners thought that the Internet was not for them, however most Branches have a growing number of members who use the World Wide Web regularly - if you don't have your own computer at home, why not try your local library?

We have been contacted by railway pensioners all over the world, and have even been contacted by a University Medical Department, looking for a group of older people in good health for help with their research - they found us via the web, as did a theatrical group performing Olde Tyme Music Hall in the New Forest!

Our website is a good way of showing prospective members what we offer, both as a campaigning organisation and as a social network.  As long as each Branch sends details of forthcoming meetings, outings and other activities we will list them in the Diary; then 'surfers' who may wish to join will be able to see what you are doing.

Don't forget to look at our Links page for other websites and organisations that are of interest to pensioners and railway folk.

A message from our Editor

Many thanks to all contributors from the Councils and Branches.  Regular updates enable us to build up interesting and informative content that we hope will keep members informed about what is going on and attract potential new members.  

The website is what you make it - this is the kind of material we are looking for:

"dates for your diary" - meetings, outings, social events

reports of interesting things you have done or are about to do

regular updates, so that the content does not stagnate or become out-of-date

You can send in your contributions on paper, by email, on a floppy disk, by pigeon post.... it doesn't matter as long as we get news of your activities.  Photos are also welcome (.jpeg format preferred).   If you have an item for inclusion on the website or need some advice on what to supply, please click here to contact the editor.

Recent changes

Time for another change of traction on our Home Page - this time we are using a photograph taken on the Nene Valley Railway by retired driver, Len Creak.  (We will return to Alan Cheek's splendid pictures at a future date; his pictures come from Rail Images UK, and Alan has given permission to use photographs from his extensive collection).  

Nice photos are always welcome (jpeg format is best), so that we can keep ringing the changes, so please send them in!

Be a nosy neighbour

Don't just look at your Branch's page - use our website to see what other Branches are getting up to.  This might give you ideas for activities in your 'home' Branch.  Some neighbouring Branches have joined forces for trips and other activities, giving even more opportunities to meet people and keep in touch.

If you want to know more, please click here to contact the editor.

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Copyright © 2008 British Transport Pensioners' Federation
Last modified: 09 October, 2008