Cash for cowches
The unique Crieff Cowches, which formed a popular art trail in the Strath capital over the summer, went under the hammer at a gala dinner at Crieff Hydro on Friday evening.
Local farmer Jim McLaren MBE was the man with the gavel at the exciting auction, which saw all eleven lots sold, raising a whopping £24,900 for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA).
The Crieff Highland Gathering Cowch by June McEwan took the top price of £3700, followed by the Innerpeffray Cowch, also by June, and Sweetie Annie by Katy Galbraith, which both went for £3600.
Graham Donaldson, chair of Crieff Succeeds, declared:“As well as raising the profile of Crieff as a visitor destination, we hope the Crieff Cowches art trail has helped to engender a sense of pride and ownership among the business owners, community groups and local population.
“Thank you to the businesses who sponsored the cowches nad the talented artists for their creativity and hard work, without them the trail would not have been possible.
“The main purpose of the trail was to raise money through the auction of the individual cowches for our partnership charity SCAA, which is an integral part of Scotland’s frontline emergency response network. The £24,900 was an amazing amount.
“Thank you to all the artists, who did a great job of touchingup the cowches so they looked 100 per cent again at the auction, helping them reach the prices they went for.
“And thank you to all the bidders.
“It was a fun night and we raised an amazing amount for SCAA. We had hopes of making £20,000 and achieved well over that.”
Nick Harvey, SCAA’s director of fundraising and communications, praised the cowch campaign.
He said:“Working with Crieff Succeeds to help fund vital emergency response care for those most in need across the whole of Scotland has been a fantastic and rewarding partnership.
“SCAA is the people’s helicopter, and having the support of so many is humbling. We can’t thank the community enough for their unwavering support of this life-saving service.”