Latest news with #IsleofLewis
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Honours for Linda Norgrove's parents after years fighting for rights of women in daughter's name
Their lives were shattered 15 years ago when their kidnapped daughter was killed in Afghanistan during a rescue attempt by US forces. Heartbreakingly, John and Lorna Norgrove later learned it was an American grenade that killed their aid worker daughter Linda. Now the couple, who channelled their grief into a charity in her memory, have both been made OBEs in the King's Birthday Honours. Based on the Isle of Lewis, the Norgroves said their daughter would have been 'delighted' they were carrying on her work – and dedicated their new honour to women in Afghanistan. Linda, who grew up on Lewis, was kidnapped by the Taliban while doing aid work in September 2010. The following month a US special ops rescue mission was launched but the 34-year-old was fatally wounded by one of their grenades, dying shortly after her extraction. In her memory, her parents set up the Linda Norgrove Foundation which gives grants to fund education, health and childcare for women and children in Afghanistan. The couple said: 'We are a tiny charity, mostly volunteers, who all share the same goal – to make life better for women and children in Afghanistan. 'Having put a lot of effort into sponsoring women to study medicine in Afghanistan, we were heartbroken when the Taliban stopped them from attending university. We were privileged to have the chance to bring some of them here to Scotland last year to continue their studies. 'We dedicate this honour to all those brave women who remain in Afghanistan, or who have made the decision to move abroad and continue their studies. Their struggle continues and they are the real heroes of this story.' The Norgroves were among a slew of Scots recognised in the honours list for making a difference in their field of endeavour. Labour politician Pamela Duncan Glancy, the first wheelchair user elected to the Scottish parliament, becomes an MBE, while social media influencer Zahrah Mahmood, 34 – known as the Hillwalking Hijabi – was recognised with the same honour. Glaswegian mother-of-two Ms Mahmood, president of Ramblers Scotland, said: 'I'm still taking it in. I'm grateful, and I hope I can continue using whatever platform this brings to keep doing the work which matters to me and so many others.' Historian Alistair Moffat, who founded the Borders Book Festival, also becomes an MBE, for services to literature and culture. He has written more than 40 books on Scottish history. This year's Borders Book Festival starts on Thursday. Charles Pelling, manager of Edinburgh's Lady Haig Poppy Factory, was honoured with an OBE in recognition of services to veterans. Meanwhile, Debbie Crosbie – boss of building society Nationwide – paid tribute to her Glaswegian upbringing after receiving a damehood. She said: 'Most of my peer group have come from a much higher social demographic and they tended to be educated in either Oxford or Cambridge. 'I am actually hugely proud. I grew up in Glasgow, I wasn't different to any of my peer group, so to be given the opportunity to lead... I've had a massively rewarding career.' Ms Crosbie's fellow Glaswegian, Greggs chief executive Roisin Currie, is also among the business leaders honoured this year with a CBE.
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump plans memorial to his mother on new Scottish golf course
Donald Trump is creating a memorial garden to his Scottish mother on the site of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. The main feature of the garden will be a tribute carved in stone imported from Mary Anne Trump's birthplace, the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The announcement of Mr Trump's tribute to his mother came as Trump International Scotland unveiled the layout for a new course alongside the existing links course on his Menie estate. It is set to formally open this summer. Known officially as the Old and the New, the courses will combine to create what the company describes as ' the greatest 36 holes in golf' on the Aberdeenshire coast. The US president's mother was born Mary Anne MacLeod on Lewis, but emigrated to New York in 1930 when she was 18. She was one of tens of thousands of Scots who travelled to the US and Canada in the early years of the last century looking to escape economic hardship at home. She was hired as a domestic servant at the Carnegie Mansion on New York's Fifth Avenue and six years later married Frederick Trump, the successful property developer son of German migrants, and one of the most eligible men in New York. The US president was the fourth of the couple's five children. Mr Trump has spoken fondly of his mother, who died in 2000, aged 88. He said in an interview last year: ' The Scottish very great people, they're tough people. They're good fighters. [My mother] was funny, she had a great sense of humour.' Sarah Malone, the executive vice-president of Trump International, said: 'With the New course opening now fast approaching, we are delighted to share the final layout of this extraordinary links and the completion of The Greatest 36 Holes. 'It has been a phenomenal journey to create two truly exceptional world-class championship golf courses, across this magnificent stretch of North Sea coastline. 'The Trump family has a deep affection for Scotland, not only as the home of golf, but as the ancestral home of President Trump's beloved mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.' The plans for the second course were approved in 2019 alongside proposals for 550 new homes, shops, offices and restaurants. Planners received 2,921 valid representations from the public about the plan, 2,918 of which were objections and just 3 supported the Trump Organisation application. But despite the significant local opposition, Aberdeenshire council approved the £150 million plan.
