The Linda Norgrove Foundation (LNF) is based in Mangersta on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The Foundation was set up by John and Lorna Norgrove in memory of their daughter, Linda Norgrove, a Scottish aid worker devoted to improving the lives of Afghans, who was kidnapped by the Taliban and subsequently died during a failed rescue attempt by US forces in 2010.
The Foundation supports projects that improve the lives of women and children in Afghanistan, through funding small, on-the-ground projects with a focus on health, education and vocational training, and the provision of humanitarian aid. Recent projects include life-changing medical operations for women and girls in Kabul, scholarships for primary school-aged girls, supporting online education for secondary school aged girls, vocational training for young women in Kabul and Kandahar, professional development for midwives, and funding for a mother and baby clinic in Herat. LNF also responded to the September 2025 earthquakes in Kunar province by sending emergency aid and funding two all-female medical teams to provide treatment and advice to women and girls in the area.
In August 2024 the Foundation successfully brought nineteen Linda Norgrove Foundation scholarship students to Scotland to complete their medical degrees. These women had been previously supported by the Foundation to undertake medical studies in Kabul, before the universities were closed to women. After a long campaign and months of work, supported by the UK Government, the Scottish Government, and the Scottish medical schools, this was a great achievement for the Foundation, and we will continue to support these women for the duration of their studies.
The Foundation is run by seven volunteer trustees, supported by two part-time employees in the UK (1.2FTE) and a self-employed, part-time female programme manager in Kabul. Trustees are Linda’s parents and founders of the Foundation, John and Lorna Norgrove; the sisters Frishta and Farzana Matin, who previously worked as programme managers for the Linda Norgrove Foundation in Kabul and were evacuated to the UK in 2021; Carola Bell who is based on the Isle of Lewis and oversees the finances; Dr. Mhairi Murdoch, who provides advice regarding medical studies in the UK for the 19 students in Scotland; and Louise Scullion, a well-respected Scottish visual artist based locally on the Isle of Lewis. We are very pleased to be able to welcome Lyse Ducet, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, as an additional Trustee in March 2026.
The Foundation is further supported by volunteers who advise on public relations and communications, provide IT support and act as points of contact for the students now in Scotland. Further information about the trustees can be found on the Linda Norgrove Foundation website at: https://lindanorgrovefoundation.org/about-us/trustees/.
The Linda Norgrove Foundation works with a network of trusted partner organisations in Afghanistan to ensure that projects are delivered within agreed timeframes and to budget. Staff monitor projects in and around Kabul, and we rely on contacts working either as volunteers or on a consultancy basis to externally monitor projects in the provinces and in other cities.
The Foundation has been operating successfully for fifteen years and benefits from well established relationships with contact organisations and individuals in Afghanistan. Although we employ a part-time programme manager in Afghanistan, the Foundation is registered in Scotland and has no direct dealings with the de factor government in Afghanistan. The Foundation does not apply for UK Government funding, but relies instead on individual donations and grant-giving bodies.
