Rig crews donate £10k to Hospital Adventures project

March 10, 2022 at 1:13 pm

From the left: Ann Gregg NHS Orkney, Davie Campbell chairman of endowment sub-committee NHS Orkney, Linzi Mowatt NHS Orkney, Andrew Morrison master of Stena Spey, Dr Tariro Gandiya NHS Orkney, Gerard Cowie master of Stena Don and Jim Buck harbour master at OIC.

An £10,000 boost to NHS Orkney’s endowment fund will help support more children who have a family member attending The Balfour for treatment.

The donation towards the Hospital Adventures project comes from the crews of Stena Spey and Stena Don, who raised the money over the festive period through raffles and competitions to raise spirits among the crew.

Hospital Adventures focuses on demystifying hospitals for children and families.

The group, which is headed up by Dr Tariro Gandiya has already helped so many Orkney children and their families to understand what is going on with their loved ones, explaining things relevant to each age group and ensuring they are comfortable with asking questions and visiting the hospital.

Dr Gandiya gave thanks to the offshore crews for their fundraising efforts.

“It is an absolute honour to have received this donation from rigs which call Scapa Flow ‘home’ for a while,” she said.

“This money will allow us to extend our reach, we will be able to impact more families and the community we are serving.

“We hope, in the future, we may begin to go into schools and expand our scope of work to ensure children and young people of all ages understand the role of hospitals and medicines to help them and their families.”

Marc Swinton, rig manager aboard Stena Spey said: “The crews of the Stena Spey and Stena Don have had a fantastic relationship with the local community in Orkney since we arrived in 2018 and it’s a great pleasure to be able to give something to those in need in the local community.

“The crews on the rigs have been very generous with their donations, along with the staff in Stena Drilling Aberdeen — all delighted to be able to support truly amazing charities.”

Erik Ronsberg, chief executive of Stena Drilling said: “I’m very pleased that our staff on Stena Spey and Stena Don have managed to raise so much money for the charity.

“We’re delighted to be able to give something back to the Orkney community who have made us so welcome.”