Disaster Action is a British charity founded in 1991 by survivors and bereaved relatives of UK and overseas disasters. In the late 1980s, there were a number of serious incidents in which many lives were lost, 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. He, along with like minded individuals, founded the charity. It won a Guardian charity of the year award in 2004 for excellence in its field.