The 'Fill a Fish' initiative reflects Suntera Global's commitment to ESG values
Five giant beach clean structures shaped like fish are being placed around the Isle of Man coast this summer, as part of a new initiative, driven by Suntera Global and launched at a special event at Government House earlier this month, to reduce plastic on local beaches.
The ‘Fill a Fish’ sculptures have been built to encourage the proper disposal of plastic waste, which will be collected within the sculptures, and will be installed in close proximity to beaches in five locations around the island, including in Douglas, Castletown, Peel, Port Erin and Ramsey.
The sculptures have all been designed by children from local primary schools following a competition held over the course of 2021, with five different sea creatures ultimately being chosen from over 600 entries. The winning designs have since been brought to life by Darren Jackson and Stephanie Quayle from Farmyard Studio.
The winning children were Alexandra Lledo-Mulvey from Peel Clothworkers School, Caleb Crellin from Anagh Coar Primary School, Finlo Stanford from Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey, Imogen Crennell from Bunscoill Rhumsaa, and Nicole Astell-Burt from The Buchan School.
The finished sculptures were unveiled at the official launch on Thursday 4th August at the Government House by the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer KCB DSO MBE and his wife Lady Lorimer MBE, before being moved to their selected locations around the island. The launch was attended by the winning children and their families, the commissioners for each area where the sculptures have been placed, government representatives, and other special guests.
This is the first time that Suntera Global has undertaken their Fill a Fish initiative, with staff from the firm having also participated in the project this year by fundraising to cover the costs of constructing and installing the sculptures, as well as supporting the school engagement throughout the campaign.
The initiative will now be rolled out across Suntera Global’s international office network to create unique sculptures and tackle the plastic waste crisis through their offices in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta and the United States.
The Isle of Man project was undertaken in collaboration with two local charities - Beach Buddies and Isle Listen. Beach Buddies was founded in 2006 to tackle the amount of rubbish being left on local beaches and since then has recruited over 8,000 volunteers who work to keep the Isle of Man’s beaches clean and free from plastic. Isle Listen is an early intervention and positive mental health charitable initiative established in 2019 to provide support and training in schools, the workplace and community, helping people to recognise that mental health is just as important as physical health.
Mark Reynolds, Chief Operating Officer at Suntera Global, said: “Environmental, social and governance values sit at the heart of our culture, and we are committed to caring for our staff, the environment and the community in equal measure. Our collaboration with Beach Buddies and Isle Listen has helped us to make this project really special, as have the significant efforts made by our staff to support the initiative.
“We hope that the sculptures will actively encourage community participation and as a result, we will see more recycling, less plastic waste and more members of our community getting out and about and keeping physically and mentally well.”