The former mine workers who are struggling to survive on just £60 a week

IN 2019, former colliers spoke of the reality of living on as little as £59 per week from the miners’ pension scheme as they continued their campaign for change.

Then aged 73, Emlyn Davies was living with his daughter and her husband.

He was one of the surviving 150,000 former miners who paid 5.25% into the scheme while working.

After 26 years working in Penrhiwceiber Colliery, he received £59 a week.

“I receive £59 a week. Imagine playing £8 or £9 a week in and you only have £59 back after 26 years?” said Emlyn, known to family and friends as Em.

“When I was a young man – I started in the ‘50s – we thought we would have a good pension. Then they altered it and I thought it would be even better but it ended up not being the case. We are still poor.”

At 15 years old, Em followed the footsteps of his father and two older brothers to begin a career in the colliery. Originally a worker on the coal face, he later moved to work with the power-loading machinery.

As a working father-of-five, life was hard – but there were plenty of happy times.

He said: “When the kids were very young I was still in the pit and we had everything they wanted for Christmas. We used to go in debt for six months after to back out of it. That’s why our family are so close – we gave them everything and they seem to share that. It wasn’t a lot but we lived day to day.”

However, things changed once he hit retirement age.

He said: “After I retired all together it was a struggle. We couldn’t live on the money we were given, every year we would go to the bank and borrow £1,000 with interest and everything. That’s why we decided to sell the house and move into council rented accommodation.

“We lost our house – we had to sell it because we couldn’t afford the repairs. Now I’ve got a good family around me and my daughter and her husband have taken me on. After I lost my wife I took it badly.”

Then aged 60, former Oakdale colliery worker Ken Sullivan took the decision to retire after undergoing triple bypass surgery.

His career in the colliery also started at the age of 15 when he began to support his father who was a prisoner of war during the Second World War.

Now, he receives £78 a week from the scheme, alongside his state pension.

Ken, who had lived in the same house in Tredegar since he was born, said: “People think it is a good amount but when you contemplate what you have paid in, it’s not that much. My wife budgets everything down to the last penny. There’s only certain things we can buy and certain things we can’t, but you get used to it. We don’t go out – my wife last went out three years ago.”

For the 67-year-old, the hardest part is not being able to take his whole family on holiday each year.

He said: “With Christmas we make sure we have a good time and are not going without, but there are one or two extra things we can’t get. I’m only getting half the pension I should – an extra £70 would make a huge difference.”

For Ken, reality hit home this winter while watching BBC drama Care – which charted the difficulties of a woman who develops dementia after a stroke.

Ken said: “It’s frightening to think what could become of you. Before we get to that stage it would be nice to enjoy life without worrying about every penny.”

In 2017, the father and grandfather began a petition calling for the scheme to be reviewed. It now has more than 60,000 signatures.

As part of his campaigning, Ken has visited every village and town in south Wales drumming up support – and has met those in situations far worse than his own.

He said: “In Abertillery there was an old lady and she was told she would get £7.50 a week as a widower. Her husband would have got £15 a week. She was gutted and thought the pension was disgusting but accepted what she had.

“A lot of people don’t realise what has taken place. What we are asking for is the pension we have paid into. We are not asking for charity, we are not asking for handouts, that’s all we want.”