Donald Trump’s sister has donated over £150,000 to a Western Isles care home close to the family’s heart.
Maryanne Trump Barry, a senior circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals of the Third Circuit, has made the donation to Bethesda Care Home on the Isle of Lewis in memory of their mother who came from the isles.
Trump’s mother, Mary Anne Macleod Trump was originally from Tong on Lewis and the £158,000 donation along with £200,000 funding from the Scottish Government will now go towards nine new beds at the home.
NHS Western Isles Chief Executive Gordon Jamieson said:”This is an extremely welcome development and I would like to thank Bethesda’s generous benefactor, Maryanne Trump Barry, for her contribution to the project, as well as the Scottish Government and the local partnership, who, through their combined efforts, have given us a great opportunity to improve the experience of those waiting for care home placement.”
Cllr Uisdean Robertson, Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, said:”This is good news for older people and their families, in providing more bed spaces which will help address the delayed discharge waiting list. As well as this very welcome private donation to Bethesda, the Comhairle and NHS Western Isles have worked hard to identify additional resources.
“The commissioning of the respite beds has been a priority for the Comhairle and NHS Partnership and I am pleased that we are making significant progress in what are early days for the integration of Health and Social Care in the islands.”
Carol Somerville, Bethesda General Manager, added:”Since the completion of the extensive refurbishment and extension of the nursing home, completed in 2010, the Bethesda Trustees have fought hard to secure the capital and revenue funding to complete the upper floor of the nursing home, to provide an additional nine nursing home beds for the benefit of the community. We are delighted to have worked alongside Maryanne Trump Barry in order to make a lasting memorial to her mother, who was born and brought up in Tong.
“Now with the support of Health and Social Care this much needed facility can be progressed. Once building consent has been received and tenders sought for the work, it is hoped that the project will commence shortly.”
Mr Trump also named his golf course at the Meanie Estate in Aberdeenshire after his mother.
“It was a very easy decision for me to make. My mother loved Scotland and I wanted to create a lasting tribute to her,” said Mr Trump previously.
As for his mother, Mr Trump is proud of his roots.
“My mom comes from Stornoway, that’s seriously Scottish,” Mr Trump has said.
Seven years ago the tycoon and his sister made an emotional visit to their late mother’s humble old home and met his cousins.
Mr Trump is the fourth of five children born to Frederick Trump, a successful real estate developer, and Mary Anne. She met Frederick while vacationing in New York City. The couple married in 1936. She died in August 2000 at the age of 88, but had returned to Lewis regularly before her death.
His eldest sister Maryanne Trump Barry, said in 2008 she had visited her cousins on Lewis “24 or 25 times.”
“My mother would be so proud of seeing Donald here today. How well he has done – all the good he has done, the tv star that he is. He has never forgot where he came from and he came from here. This is the man I revere – he is a great guy,” said a clearly emotional Maryanne then.
Maryanne had even brought along her own faded original newspaper cuttings of her mother’s wedding. She also had a picture of herself as a ten-year-old with her mother leaving New York for Lewis.
Mary Anne was a native Gaelic speaker and Mr Trump said if it was not for his father his mother would have returned to Lewis.
“She would have come back, but she met a great guy in my father,” he said then. “She had a great romance and a great marriage. She never lost her feeling for Scotland. She loved Lewis. She never forgot her roots.
“I had a great mother who was a beautiful woman and great woman in many ways. She was a great inspiration.”