TO be a real die-hard campaigner you have to be a thorn in somebody’s side and be brave enough to ruffle a few feathers, even if it lands you in the proverbial hot water or in court.

Veteran campaigners from the Worcestershire Pensioners Action group are certainly not afraid to speak their minds or challenge the men in suits in the well-furnished offices of Whitehall or County Hall in Worcester who take the big decisions that affect ordinary people’s lives.

The organisation was founded more than three years ago by two Worcester men – Ron Chambers, aged 63, and Brian Hunt, 72 – who are both passionate about the health and well-being of older people and about protecting their services, like the wardens and hot meals services in sheltered accommodation.

Mr Chambers has an 88-year-old dad, John, who lives in sheltered accommodation in Chelmsford Court in Ronkswood, Worcester, which made him determined to safeguard services for all older and vulnerable people in Worcestershire.

Wherever there is a perceived injustice or the axe of local or national government is poised to fall on another service, these hard-nosed campaigners and growing numbers of their supporters are never very far away with banners and, if need be, portable coffins.

The group recruited a man dressed as a starving skeleton clutching a coffin outside Worcester Guildhall to get across a Halloween message last year about the damage to the health of older people caused by service cuts.

They were protesting against the withdrawal of Worcestershire County Council funding for the hot meals service in sheltered accommodation which they said was not only important for their health but their social life as well, helping them to mix with other people and feel less lonely.

Mr Chambers of St George’s Walk, Barbourne, Worcester, was outraged when he learned that prisoners tuck into three meals a day when Worcestershire County Council was making cuts to the hot meals service.

The county council withdrew a subsidy which meant that older people who did not meet the criteria were not eligible for free hot meals, saving the council £362,000 a year.

Mr Hunt, of Lansdowne Rise, Worcester, said the desire not to compromise the strength of their message ensured the pressure group remained non party-political.

Members of the Worcestershire Pensioner’s Action Group do not toe any party line, are free to speak their mind and guard their independence fiercely.

Mr Hunt said: “We felt there was room for a campaigning group that was non party-political. Ron was concerned because his father was in sheltered housing and the issue of the wardens came up. That was when we decided we would form the Worcestershire Pensioners Action Group.

“At first nobody wanted to talk to us. We were just a nuisance, a thorn in their sides. The personal health of older people has to be top on the list along with loneliness. This is why we are so involved in the issue of wardens.

“The wardens can be like a mother to older people. If you talk to anyone about the wardens in sheltered accommodation, they will tell you how marvellous they are. Those wardens know more about that person and their private life than some members of that person’s own family. I am passionate about protecting these vulnerable people.

“I have had councillors come up to me and say. ‘I see you have been having a go about the poor old people’. They say, my aunt is 84 and she is fit and well. I say, ‘I’m chuffed about that’. Than I say ‘do you want me to tell you about the people who have nobody and nothing in their cupboards. I can take you to them’.”

Mr Chambers and Mr Hunt travelled to London by coach on Wednesday, September 16, to show their support for campaigning lawyer Yvonne Hossack, who was cleared of professional misconduct charges and won the backing of Home Secretary Alan Johnson at the hearing.

Mrs Hossack, a lawyer with Hossacks which specialises in fighting legal issues on behalf of elderly and disabled people, spoke at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Pump Street, Worcester, in January against any scaling down of the warden service in Worcestershire.

Although Worcestershire County Council or Worcester Community Housing have no plans at present to scale back the warden service, Mrs Hossack said she would demand a judicial review if funding for the service was withdrawn.

Mrs Hossack, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, was been criticised by Nothamptonshire, Staffordshire and Hull councils and charges were brought against her by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority. The allegations against her included providing confidential information to a third party.

Mrs Hossack was backed by Mr Johnson in his capacity as Hull MP.

Mr Chambers said: “She is one of the only people who speaks out nationally for older people. That is why, I believe, she was taken to court. It was a witch hunt.

“She has the same interests at heart as me – elderly people and people with disabilities. It was a shock to me, the way she was treated. It was not for people like her and Worcestershire Pensioner’s Action Group these people would just be walked all over.

“But we, like her, are going to keep going even when there are people gunning for us.”