A new board game designed to raise money for a charity set up in memory of Piper Alpha has attracted interest from as far afield as Congo and New Zealand.
The world’s worst offshore disaster killed 167 men working in the North Sea.
Now a new Monopoly game has been launched to raise money for the charity Pound for Piper, which works to ensure the men who lost their lives 30 years ago are never forgotten.
And already, more than £35,000 has been raised – with orders coming in from across the globe.
The limited edition of 2,000 boards are similar to the traditional Monopoly game, except that players are attempting to buy platforms and oil fields rather than hotels and houses.
In the oil-related version, for instance, HTL Group is on the same place on the board as Mayfair.
The game has been supported by a string of major companies including Shell, Bristows, Dolphin Drilling and Opito, and also has the backing of survivor Steve Rae.
Kenny Dooley, the director of Aberdeen-based firm, C Growth, who came up with the idea, yesterday revealed the game has already raised more than £35,000 to help maintain the memorial in the city’s Hazlehead Park.
He said: “We couldn’t have anticipated there would be so many inquiries and orders from people in every part of the world.
“In the last week, ever since we received the boards from the manufacturers, we have had interest from Australia – a lot from there – New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Congo.
“Closer to home, people from Belgium and Holland and other parts of Britain have been in touch and have purchased the game through the JustGiving page which has been set up.
“It seems that, anywhere you find people who have worked in the oil industry, they want to do whatever they can to pay their respects and help the Pound for Piper organisation.
“We had one man from the north-east come in during the last few days and buy a board for his father, who worked on Piper Alpha.
“By the end of this week, we anticipate we will have raised around £40,000, which is obviously good news for the charity.”
Mr Rae, who was one of the few people to escape from the inferno on Piper Alpha, said: “We are very appreciative of the efforts of C Growth, who have worked hard to make sure the game is a success.
“This is a good way for the oil and gas industry to get involved in the fundraising for the memorial and it is good to see so many companies have put their name on the boards.”
The link for the JustGiving page is
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/167souls