When Colleen Webster found herself with just enough money to buy food, but not for the electricity to cook it, she felt herself gripped with an overwhelming sense of despair.
“It was a vicious circle – I could afford one or the other and it was a terrible predicament,” Ms Webster told i. “It got to the point where I just didn’t know what to do. I was at the end of my tether.”
Consequently, when a male friend who she had known for years made the proposition that he could give the-then 61-year-old money in exchange for sex, she grasped it as a way of surviving.
“It reached the situation where I could either have the electric on or put food on the table and this offer came along, I accepted it,” she said.
“I don’t feel embarrassed, but I do feel angry as I felt I had no choice but to sell my body. I am so angry at the Government for putting me in that position in the first place.”
Ms Webster, now 68, who lives in Cawston in Norfolk, is one of the estimated 3.8 million so-called Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women – those born in the 50s who were affected by the change to the state pension age under the 1995 and 2011 Pensions Acts. For some women, it meant an increase in the age they could retire on the State Pension by up to six years.
The Waspi campaign argues that women were not adequately informed of the change to the State Pension age by the Department for Work and Pensions before it was brought in. In March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended that women affected are owed compensation from the Government as a result.
Ms Webster, a mother-of-four with six grandchildren, said she always thought she would receive her state pension at 60 and it came as a “bolt out of the blue” when she discovered she had to wait until the age of 66. She said she only found out after losing her job and being forced to sign up for benefits.
“I had been working in the kitchen in an old people’s home,” she explained. “I don’t drive so I managed to get a lift with the boss who lived down the road from me most mornings and sometimes she would give me a lift back home in the afternoon.
“There was also another lady who delivered the meals who gave me a lift home sometimes when she’d finished.” But this woman only worked part time.
Without transport of her own, Ms Webster was unable to complete the hours required of her.
When she attended the job centre, she believed she would only need to claim benefits for three months as she would soon be turning 60.
She said the news that she would have to wait a further six years to receive her state pension was a “bombshell”.
“I walked out of there absolutely devastated. No one wants to employ a woman of almost 60 and with me not being able to drive, that made it harder,” she said. “I live in a rural area and there aren’t many places to work nearby.”
Even signing on for benefits proved an ordeal, as she had to make a 26-mile round trip by bus every two weeks to sign on.
“I was constantly worried that I would miss my appointment and get sanctioned and wouldn’t get any money,” she said.
Ms Webster says women in one of the pension groups she was part of set up a fundraising page when they heard about her plight and managed to raise the money to clear her rent arrears and she was deeply moved by people’s kindness. However, she still found herself struggling with daily living.
“I managed to keep a roof over my head, but I had to use food banks as the benefits were not enough.”
It was at this point Ms Webster took up the controversial offer from her male friend, striking up a deal which made her £40 a week from him for the next two years.
She now receives her state pension and said it has made “so much difference to my life”.
“I don’t have to sell my body, I can pay for food and pay my bills and I don’t owe any money. I have also been able to afford to buy a dog, which is something I always wanted. My black Labrador Jade is great company.”
She supports the Waspi campaign and believes all affected women deserve compensation.
“I think it was wrong that they added six years to the pension age in the first place, but I can’t understand why women weren’t told properly about it,” she said.
Angela Madden, chair of Waspi, said: “There are sadly far too many women just like Colleen who received just a few months notice of significant hikes in their state pension age, throwing their retirement plans into chaos.
“Hundreds of MPs who support Waspi’s calls to deliver fair and fast compensation for all 50s-born women have been recently elected and are calling on ministers to act quickly.
“It is paramount the Government makes good on its previous promises and sets out proposals for financial redress to end this injustice as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We will need time to carefully review and consider the Ombudsman’s report on how changes to State Pension age were communicated.
“Once this work has been undertaken, we will be in a position to outline our approach.
“We will continue to listen respectfully to the women involved and ensure we take on board any lessons learnt.”