Motability Operations has raised more than £35,000 in support of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) by taking part in in the 2024 Hairy Highland Coo Trail.
The fundraising initiative, which officially launched earlier this year, saw 37 colourful Highland ‘Coo’ sculptures installed across Perth and Kinross, each of them attracting a corporate sponsor.
Motability Operations – which runs the Motability Scheme providing mobility solutions for over 84,000 disabled people and their families across Scotland –sponsored the Saltire Scotland Coo.
Affectionately named “Moo Billy T”, and first installed in Dunkeld, the Motability Operations team couldn’t bear to part with Moo Billy T and achieved a coup by acquiring their coo when the sculptures were auctioned off at Scone Palace.
Moo Billy T has since proved a star turn at the company’s recent ‘The Big Event’ flagship customer event at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh. He now has a permanent home nearby, at the company’s offices in the Gyle which hosts 200 employees.
Gavin Thomson, chief operating officer and managing director of Motability Operations in Scotland, said: “We were very proud to sponsor one of the Hairy Highland Coo sculptures this year, as a means of supporting CHAS in their vital work with children facing life-shortening conditions across Scotland.
“It reflects our commitment to our local community, reinforcing our dedication to giving back and promoting social value.
“When the time came for the sculptures to be auctioned off, we couldn’t bear the thought of him going out to pasture elsewhere so we brought Moo Billy T home to Motability Operations HQ in Edinburgh to our visitor welcome area for all to enjoy.”.
Hairy Highland Coo Trail Project Manager Hayley Smith at CHAS, said: “We thank Motability Operations for their fundraising efforts. This money will make a life changing difference to all of the children with life-shortening conditions we support and their families at our hospices and in their homes across Scotland.
“Initiatives like the Hairy Highland Coo Trail allow us to bring people together in creative and meaningful ways, and we’re thrilled by the community’s enthusiastic support.”
