Tain and Fearn Free Church of Scotland community comes together in fundraiser after local Easter Ross man Liam Macdonald (23) was killed in Shetland Upper Kergord wind farm construction site incident last weekend
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AN EASTER ROSS local church is organising a fundraiser to support the family of a young man who tragically passed away in a workplace accident at the weekend.
Liam Macdonald (23), who was from the Tain area, was identified earlier today (Wed June 8) by Police Scotland as the man who died in an incident at a Shetland wind farm site at the weekend.
Now, Tain and Fearn Free Church of Scotland are running a collection to help support his family after the tragic event.
Members of the community will be able to donate at church on Sunday or by bank transfer into the church account.
Reverend Alasdair MacAulay said there was a fast response from the community.
"As soon as we heard the tragic news, people in the congregation were asking how they could help," he said.
"We decided to arrange a collection to support the family and knowing that many in the community were also keen to donate, we publicised this on our Facebook page. That post was shared more than 100 times within the first 24 hours and many in the community have donated already."
His family has thanked people for their kind messages, prayers and support.
Sister Lauren posted: "I don’t know how to do this without him as he always lightened the mood in hard times with an inappropriate joke and spiced up any family get-together.He would be so grateful to eveyone for looking after us. Our time with him was way too short but we are so thankful to have had him for 23 years. Our beautiful, crazy boy."
Hundreds of tributes have been shared on social media.The incident happened around 10.15am on Sunday, June 5 at the construction site in the Upper Kergord area. The Viking site, which remains non-operational at the moment of writing, is one of two operated by BAM Nuttall in the Kergord area.
Ian Parish, executive director at BAM Nuttall said: “Liam Macdonald’s death on our site in Kergord, Shetland on Sunday is a tragedy which came as devastating news to me and to everyone at BAM.
"My foremost thoughts are for Liam’s family, and his friends and colleagues. My words will provide no comfort at this time, but we will support them in any way we can.
"Hearing the news of Liam’s death on Sunday was an extremely sad moment for all of us. We owe it to all those who knew him to find out about what happened. We will do that in cooperation with our client SSE and with the relevant authorities.”
The Health and Safety Executive has been made aware and is helping police with their enquiries.
SSE Renewables head of onshore projects, Derek Hastings said: “Our thoughts are with everyone who knew Liam, especially his family and friends. We know how devastating the shock of his death has been for everyone, including his colleagues on site.
“At this very difficult time, we are providing counselling support to all of our staff and contractors. We are also continuing to work closely with BAM Nuttall and the relevant authorities to understand how this tragic incident occurred.”
Those willing to donate can do so via bank transfer at the following coordinates, using Liam's name as a reference:
Account Name - Tain and Fearn Free Church of Scotland
Sort Code - 80-06-36
Account Number - 06001724
Related: Easter Ross man who died at wind farm site is named by police
