A CAMPAIGNER who was persuaded to champion the rights of pensioners by Barbara Castle visited Blackburn -- and urged others to join his campaign.

Rodney Bickerstaff made the passionate plea during a seminar on pensioner poverty and care issues at the town hall.

Mr Bickerstaff, president of the National Pensioners' Convention, said: "I hope that seminars like this can energise local people to become involved with helping raise awareness of problems facing older people.

"There are eleven million pensioners in this country who are twice as likely to vote as younger people, so our voice cannot be ignored.

"The level of the state pension is not just an issue facing today's pensioners but one for all of us. If it keeps depreciating at current levels by the time we reach 2050 it will be worth next to nothing. I would urge pensioners to work together and fight for a decent standard of living."

Around 200 people attended the event organised by Blackburn with Darwen Council and chaired by Coun Don Rishton.

The seminar forms part of the council's strategy to make improvements and raise awareness of the problems facing pensioners.

And Mr Bickerstaff urged the council to continue its good work by sending a delegation to the pensioners' parliament in Blackpool in July.

He added: "In the year 2000/2001, 21,000 elderly people died from cold related illnesses -- how is it that this is not the case in Scandinavian countries?

"Despite being the 4th richest country in the world we are one of the worst contributors to the state pension in Europe.

"This country did not become one of the wealthiest nations overnight -- it took 60 years of hard work by today's older generation to achieve this.

"Occupational pensions and private pensions are not the answer as we are increasingly finding that these are insufficient. We are storing up a social crisis for ten to fifteen years in the future if we

do not tackle the issue now.

"If the Government can find billions of pounds for a war in Iraq, it should be able to find the money to guarantee dignity and respect in old age."

Mr Bickerstaff, from Yorkshire, was good friends with Baroness Castle, the former Blackburn MP who died last year.

She persuaded him to take on his current role in the months before her death after he stepped down as general secretary of the union Unison.