WASPI campaigners have been honoured with an award that recognises their long-running and determined fight for pension justice.

Representatives of the group – which is seeking compensation for 50s-born women affected by changes to the State Pension age – were presented with The John Knight Memorial Award at Chesterfield Labour Club.

The award is named after former GMB trade unionist John Knight who was a long-standing champion for workers and estabished the Trade Union Safety Team to support workers and former workers who had become ill as a result of their employment. The organisation supported thousands of former miners and has helped secure millions of pounds in compensation for local communities.

John died in 2021 but his legacy remains. The memorial award, which is supported by Chesterfield and District Trades Union Council, recognises individuals, trade union branches and organisations that have made a difference to people’s lives in the East Midlands through their work on health and safety or social justice.

WASPI campaign chief Angela Madden, second from the left, has spoken of North East Derbyshire members 'huge honour' at receiving The John Knight Memorial Award.

placeholder image — WASPI campaign chief Angela Madden, second from the left, has spoken of North East Derbyshire members 'huge honour' at receiving The John Knight Memorial Award.

The award presented to members of North East Derbyshire WASPI group honours their contribution to a nationwide campaign. A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman announced in 2024 that the Department for Work and Pensions had failed to adequately and timely communicate the changes to State Pension age eligibility, causing financial and emotional hardship to the affected women.

Despite the Ombudsman’s findings, the government has refused to pay out. WASPI, which stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality, is still pushing for compensation and is now turning its attention to Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s previous commitments to affected women in the hope of a government rethink.

Angela Madden, who chairs the national WASPI Campaign, said: “It is a huge honour for WASPI to receive an award bearing John Knight’s name. John dedicated his life to standing alongside ordinary people who had been treated unfairly and making sure their voices were heard.

“That commitment to social justice is one that WASPI women share. For more than a decade, women across the country have campaigned with extraordinary determination for recognition of the injustice they experienced and for fair redress.

“We are particularly proud to receive this award here in Chesterfield, where women across the East Midlands and South Yorkshire borders have contributed so much to our campaign.

“This award belongs to every WASPI woman who has written to her MP, attended a rally, spoken publicly about her experience or simply refused to give up. We will continue campaigning until WASPI women finally receive the justice they deserve.”

The presentation formed part of this year’s John Knight Memorial Lecture, delivered by Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign activist and trade unionist Chris Peace on the theme ‘Fighting the state to obtain justice’.