Children aged nine to 11 from St John’s School joined forces with Bill Dale from Beach Buddies on a community litter pick around the village and a beach clean at Balleira Beach, Kirk Michael.

Teacher Mary Jane Douglas said that the children knew all about the dangers of plastics in the environment so were keen to take part.

Before the litter pick in St John’s, one of the children asked: ’What if we don’t find any litter?’

Unfortunately, this was not going to be a problem.

The children were amazed to find that not only had plastic bottles, bags, food wrappers and take-away packaging been littered, but also larger items such as tires, chairs, a bumper and exhaust from a car, and an old electric sewing machine! We also found a paddling pool and tent that had perhaps been blown from gardens during strong winds.

Along the old railway line, the children were mystified to find that people had picked up after their dogs only to leave the plastic bags containing the waste along the path rather than disposing of it in a bin nearby.

The sun was shining for the beach clean at Balleira. Here there was less litter than anticipated on the beach, however the children still managed to fill a large number of sacks with plastic litter, rope and fishing line.

A large fishing crate and plastic containers were also collected.

Mrs Douglas said: ’Organising events such as these help to build partnerships with our community and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to society. This, together with learning outdoors, are important features of the Manx Curriculum as well as bringing a sense of achievement for the children.’

St John’s School thanked Mr Dale and Beach Buddies for providing gloves, litter pickers and sacks for both events, and taking everything collected to the civic amenity site for disposal or recycling afterwards.