I’m Robin Sharp, a retired civil servant and Refugee Action supporter.
Quite soon a dreary-looking letter from an official address will drop onto our doormats. The content of the letter will differ depending on when we worked and when we retired.
If you retired after 2016 and get the full basic state pension, it will say that the amount is going up by £973 or £81.08 per month, to £10,600 for the coming year from April.
This is because the pension policy known as of the ‘triple lock’ demands that the state pension increases annually by the highest of three factors – the rate of inflation; the increase in earnings between the previous May and July; or 2.5%.
No prizes for guessing that the key factor this time round is the annual rate of inflation at 10.1%.
But the application of the triple lock is a decision the Chancellor takes each year. There is no guarantee that it will always apply.
The triple lock is being applied for 2023/24 at a record level in cash terms. This is going to be vital to people who are relying just on their state pension.
However, it is a good opportunity for those of us in retirement who enjoy occupational pensions or income from savings as well as the state pension, to consider if we could share some or all of the state pension increase with those who are definitely not going to receive anything like it.
Join me
It would be fantastic if you could join me in donating the full £973, but I know people have different state pension amounts and different circumstances. Anything you can give will help. Alternatively, could you forward this page to someone who might be interested?
£150 could cover the cost of four nights emergency accommodation, securing somewhere safe to stay for people forced in to destitution.
£487 could help Refugee Action staff assist four people seeking safety with their asylum support applications, advocating on their behalf with the Home Office.
£973 could help give our campaigns team the resources they need to fight back against the Government’s Anti-Refugee Laws, including the Refugee Ban Bill.
In the name of our common humanity I am asking you – if you are benefitting from the triple lock but have other sources of income – to please consider joining me in donating all or part of your state pension increase from April to supporting Refugee Action.
They will help people seeking safety in the UK with their basic cost of living needs.If you can manage all of the increase, that works out at £81 per month and attracts another 25% if you Gift Aid it.
I think refugees are often treated very unfairly in the UK. And I don’t see a lot of fairness in keeping a triple lock increase that I don’t need. If you can, please join me in doing something to redress the balance.
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Help us reach more retirees who want to help refugees.
Other ways to get involved
There are so many different ways you can support people seeking safety in the UK.