Crowds thronged to Castletown at the weekend for one of the island’s more unusual charity fund raising events.

The annual Frog Frolic took place in Poulsom Park, Castletown last weekend, along with a summer fair and sports day, drawing in large crowds and families.

Under the glorious spring afternoon sunshine, more than 1,400 plastic green frogs were released into the Silverburn river, and were cheered on by hundreds of people gathered on the riverbank, each urging their frog on to make it down to the end first.

Frogs were ’bought’ for £1, with three prizes on offer for the fastest frogs in the south.

Ultimately, the fast and furious race was won by frog number 280, which belonged to Sue Peach and her grandson Jakey Roberts, 6, who were awarded the first prize of £150.

Anna Sayle’s frog came in second place, earning her £100, and Sam Norton took home the third place prize of £75.

The race was started by chief frog, Jayne Reid.

The Frog Frolic was organised by the charity MAWCH, the Manx Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital.

Margaret Davies, one of the organising team, said that they were delighted with the turnout from locals, and the event raised a lot of money for the chosen charity.

’There is no doubt that the weather helped us out, but it was a very good day all round,’ said Margaret

’There must have been a couple of thousand people down in the park over the course of the afternoon, and we raised £1200 for the charity MAWCH, which helps the families of children who have to travel to Alder Hey for treatment.

Also, during the fair, Marissa Kneen was elected as the Castletown carnival queen for 2018.