A Doric guide produced by Robert Gordon University (RGU) is making a return to the shelves of a local shop to raise money for charity.
The Doric Dictionary, which provides a colourful crash course in the dialect of the north-east, was initially produced as a tongue-in-cheek guide for those coming to the city for major oil and gas conference Offshore Europe in 2013.
A limited number of copies were put on sale following the conference, with over £2000 being raised for the National Literacy Trust, and people will once again be able to pick up the guide in the Trinity Centre branch of Waterstones in Aberdeen this year for a minimum donation of £2.
The charity was nominated by RGU:RAG, the fundraising arm of the university’s Student Association, because of its dedication to improving literacy in the UK.
Suzie Curran, Senior Fundraising and Events Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We are delighted that Robert Gordon University has chosen the National Literacy Trust to benefit from the sale of their Doric Dictionaries.
“Support like this is vital to our work and helps ensure that we can continue to give disadvantaged children the literacy skills to succeed in life.”
Featuring key words and phrases across a range of topics from ‘The Basics’ and ‘Small Talk’ to ‘Eating and Drinking’ and ‘The Weather’, the guide was designed as a humorous visual dictionary by RGU marketing officer Karen Barrett-Ayres.
She said: “We were blown away by the reaction to the Doric Dictionary when it came out in 2013 and were delighted that we managed to raise over £2000 first time around for a fantastic charity like the National Literacy Trust.
“Since then, we have continued to get requests for copies of the dictionary so it seemed like a good idea to bring them back in the run up to Christmas and hopefully raise some more money for the NLT.
“We are very grateful to Waterstones for continuing to support us in this way and hope that the guides prove to be as popular this year.”
Copies of the Doric Dictionary will be available in the Trinity Centre branch of Waterstones, Aberdeen, in the run up to Christmas. A minimum donation of £2 is required, although higher donations are welcome.
For more information on the National Literacy Trust, visit www.literacytrust.org.uk