In the late 1980s, there were a number of serious incidents in which many people died, such as the sinking of the MV Jupiter (1961), Hillsborough, the Herald of Free Enterprise, Lockerbie, the Marchioness, Piper Alpha and UTA Flight 772.
Maurice de Rohan from the Herald Families Association realised that the issues the Herald families were experiencing would almost certainly be encountered by others in similar disasters.
[citation needed] It won a Guardian charity of the year award in 2004 for excellence in its field.
[1] The organisation has evolved and developed through the years with one significant development being the introduction of legislation to provide for remedies against Corporate manslaughter, which culminated with a new law coming into force on 1 April 2008.
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and then the Golden Bottle/Bulldog trusts also gave grants for core funding.