A community celebration of sustainability including island schoolchildren was hosted last week at the Comis Hotel in Santon.

The Kewaigue Primary School community day was the culmination of a six-month long collaboration between the Comis Hotel and the school, in an effort to get the local community - particularly those who live in the Mount Murray estate - involved with the hotel’s environmental-friendly efforts.

Back in March, students from Kewaigue teamed up with the Comis to create an environmentally-friendly ‘bug hotel’ - one of the initiatives of the Comis’ sustainability committee.

With help from the Kewaigue pupils, the bug hotel was built by reusing mainly natural materials such as pallets, branches off trees, pinecones from the golf course, bamboo and bricks leftover from the Comis’ first hotel refurbishment.

Now, after six months of collaboration between the school and the hotel, students were invited back for a special day of celebration, with two new competitions and a wide range of activities.

Year three student Adam McDowell was the winner of the ‘Design a Herb Garden’ competition, which included having to choose which herbs would be planted at the hotel and why.

These herbs will now be used by the hotel’s chefs in the dishes they prepare for their guests.

The other competition saw students having to design their own sustainable hotel, which was won by year four student Hannah Taylor.

Her design included ‘detailed research, artwork, biodiversity, clean energy and fun things to do, including an ice cream and drinks bar’.

Both Adam and Hannah received a free kids meal and an ice cream sundae at the Comis Hotel as a reward for their work.

As well as the announcement of the winners, the day also included a wide range of activities for the students to get involved in.

These activities included tending to the already-created wildflower garden and bug hotel, a ‘pond life’ interactive activity with the Manx Wildlife Trust and parachute games.

The Comis Hotel’s director, Mark Emmington, commented: ‘At the back end of last year and throughout this year, we've been working with Kewaigue on various little bits and pieces to get them involved with the resort.

‘Behind the hotel is the Mount Murray estate, and most of the kids from the estate go to Kewaigue School, so it strengthens that connection and bond with the hotel.

‘The community day was great because it has involved the kids with nature again, and they had the chance to talk to experts such as the Manx Wildlife Trust.’

The community day was also attended by the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and Lady Lorimer, with the former providing a short speech to the children before he took a look at the wildflower area and bug hotel.

A spokesperson from Government House commented: ‘His Excellency and Lady Lorimer thoroughly enjoyed talking to the children about their creations and experiences, whilst learning about all the different insects that have made this hotel their home.

‘Thank you to the organisers of this brilliant initiative and congratulations to all of the children who took part.’