£20k grant helps Crawford Primary School get moo-ving with community art project

It started, as many good community stories do, with a simple idea, a very small school thinking big.

Crawford Primary School is one of the UK’s smallest with just nine pupils, headteacher Kay MacPherson wanted to creacte something that would bring residents, children and families together to reignite community spirit and bring everyone together. 

Kay was a fan of the work of ArtFe, an Edinburgh-based arthouse famous for their sculptures crafted from recycled scrap metal and in particular their Highland Cow sculptures. The idea gathered momentum quickly. Parent Council chair Fiona Greenhorn was tasked with turning a bright idea into a workable plan. Her big challenge, however, was paying for it. 

She decided to apply for a grant from local renewable energy developer OnPath Energy.  

OnPath, who operate Middle Muir and Kype Muir Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire, believe in placing local communities at the heart of the transition to renewable energy. Last year alone, around £530,000 was awarded to local good causes from their respective community funds and together their lifetime grant awards to date top £2.5 million. OnPath’s nearby Middle Muir Wind Farm Community Fund has an annual pot of £255,000 available to local good causes via South Lanarkshire Council’s Renewable Energy Fund (REF) and Kay’s idea ticked all the right boxes.  

After a successful application, Kay and Fiona were awarded a £20,000 grant, and approached Artfe and its lead artist and blacksmith, Kev Paton. Kev, a star of the BBC show Money for Nothing, has produced all sorts of weird and wonderful works but is probably best known for his Highland Cows. The children were told they could choose something to be sculpted but, “The pupils completely fell in love with the coos and that was that,” said Kay. 

“Drive past a field of Highland cows and tell me you don’t smile,” added Kev. “Art can be a wee bit expensive and exclusive. Communities come to us with a tiny budget but also huge hopes. 

“But when anyone wants to do something to make their lives better, their community better, it’s just brilliant. It’s not about the money. We only do happy art, something that makes you smile every day.” 

The large-scale Highland cow (or ‘Ploo coo’) sculpture, built from scrap metal sourced locally, now stands proudly at the front of the school as a landmark overlooking the village.  

For Fiona, who was born and brought up in Crawford and attended the primary school herself, the project had the potential to restore something lost to the villagers since it was bypassed by the M74. 

“Being a small village, we have lost a lot of things over the years. We don’t have a doctor or a shop in the village, and it was starting to feel so enclosed,” said Fiona. “I thought Kay’s idea would bring everybody back together and help with that community feel. And something that could bring us all joy.”  

Aileen McCreadie, partnerships and community manager at OnPath Energy, said:  

“Projects like this capture exactly why community funding is such an important part of what we do. Involving families and residents in hands-on workshops encourages participation and wellbeing, helping to build healthier, more active communities. The use of recycled materials also emphasised environmental responsibility, aligning with our wider ambitions to support sustainable communities. 

The Highland cow sculptures at Crawford Primary School are a wonderful example of a community-led idea that has grown into something that will last for generations. As a relatively local person myself I will definitely be popping down to see the coo, and I would encourage others to take a trip down as I am positive it will bring a smile to many faces.” 

Aileen McCreadie – Partnerships and community manager

“OnPath Energy has been incredibly supportive, we simply couldn’t have achieved this without their help,” added Kay.  

Scrap metal, schoolchildren and a hammer 

When Artfe came back to deliver the project, they offered the opportunity for the whole community to get involved. 

“It was a way of drawing everybody in,” said Artfe’s Catherine Stops. Because the main fabrication work happens in Artfe’s workshop using heat and heavy metal, the team designed a hands-on session that was safe and achievable for pupils and locals. “We took some lighter weight metal that can be hit with a hammer and it’s light enough for the kids to work with,” she explained. 

Fiona watched that approach do exactly what the school had hoped it would do, bring the children and residents into the same space for the same purpose. “Anyone who wanted a shot… had a shot,” she said. “Now when we go and look at the coo, we’re all trying to spot which bit’s ours.” 

Cora and Peter 

The project did not begin and end with metalwork. Names mattered too. 

“The pupils and parents also chose the names of the coos, the one they had a hand in making and a wee one Artfe gifted us,” Kay said. “They wanted something that reflected the initials of Crawford Primary, which led to Cora and Peter.” 

Fiona remembered the naming board as another way of widening ownership beyond the classroom. Suggestions went up, favourites were debated, then the final picks were made by the children. 

A landmark for now and the future 

Today the two sculptures sit at the school entrance, meeting children at drop-off and pick-up, and catching the eye of anyone passing through the village.  

For the Parent Council, the pride is personal. Several members are former pupils of Crawford Primary and see the sculptures as a bridge between generations.  

Kay believes the project worked because it was never treated as “art being delivered” to a community. It was art made with them. And for Fiona, it’s a reason for the kids, her daughter included, to return to Crawford in years to come.  

“Once Ella’s long gone from the school, maybe her daughter will come here, and she can tell her she had a hand in making that cow. And that’s lovely.”