The Queen has written to Beach Buddies founder Bill Dale ahead of this weekend’s inaugural Environment Festival.

The festival is being held on the north end of Peel Promenade today (Friday) and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

In her letter, the Queen said she ’greatly appreciated’ receiving a copy of the environment magazine Our Island.

Her Majesty added that she ’understood how the local community was so proud of the special recognition which your clean beaches have been awarded’.

This is the second time the Queen has written to Mr Dale, having previously written to him in January 2018.

At the time she praised the ’significantly raised awareness about the world’s marine environment, thanks to the tireless work of thousands of volunteers’.

Beach Buddies founder Bill Dale, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2017 and Tynwald Honour last year, said: ’We were really pleased to receive the first letter.

’However, for the Queen to send a second letter and to recognise our achievements in terms of clean beaches says so much about what we have been trying to do this last decade. As a community, the Isle of Man has done something very special, and we need to be very aware that the world is watching what we are doing and the exceptional high standards we are setting.’

* Beach Buddies is sponsored by FIM Capital.