Primary school children in Guernsey are being asked to design giant marine-themed sculptures that can help reduce the amount of plastic waste on island beaches, as part of a new initiative launched by Suntera Global.
Delivered in collaboration with Clean Earth Trust, Nature Commission, and The Guernsey Institute, Fill a Fish is an award-winning and multifaceted initiative that aims to address growing concerns around the damage caused to marine ecosystems by plastics.
Children between the ages of 4 and 11 across Guernsey are being invited to get creative to design and create the sea-life sculptures, to encourage and enable people to dispose of their plastic waste responsibly.
Winning designs will be selected by a panel of judges and brought to life by engineering students at The Guernsey Institute, supported by Mark Pratt, Head of Department, and renowned local artist and lecturer Mark Cook, before being positioned in permanent homes in key locations around Guernsey’s coastline.
There are two categories for the competition – The Little Starfish category, for 4 to 7 year olds, and The Deep-Sea Adventurers category, for 8 to 11 year olds. The deadline for entries is 13 th June 2025.
Fill a Fish was first launched in the Isle of Man in 2022, with more than 80,000 plastic bottles having been collected so far from the Island’s beaches and coastlines as a result of the initiative.
Commenting on the launch in Guernsey, Sara Le Page, Governance, Risk and Compliance Director – Guernsey at Suntera Global, said: “We are so excited to be able to roll out our Fill a Fish initiative to a second jurisdiction – Guernsey! This marks an important step forward in our commitment to environmental sustainability, and we are really looking forward to working with our charity partners and local schools to expand the reach of the project and make a positive difference in the local community.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for children to unleash their imagination by designing sea-life sculptures that celebrate the beauty of Guernsey’s coastline, whilst also helping to protect it, creating a legacy we can all be proud of.”
Paul Bugden, Policy Officer of the Clean Earth Trust, added: “More than 14 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year. Locally, our latest Marine Litter Report found that 80% of rubbish collected from our beaches in Guernsey is plastics. This plastic waste directly harms wildlife, introduces microplastics to the food chain and atmosphere, resulting in potential health implications for humans, and its manufacture contributes to climate change. We need to reduce plastic consumption and encourage recycling and responsible behaviour around the disposal of plastics to reduce these impacts. We are pleased to be working with Suntera Global on this initiative to provide a creative approach that can have a tangible impact on protecting our local natural environment.”
Angela Salmon, Head of Operations and Education, the Nature Commission, commented: “We are very lucky to have so many fantastic beaches and stunning stretches of coastline in Guernsey. It’s important that we don’t take that for granted and that we care for them, so that we can enjoy them for years to come. It is one of our aims to encourage islanders to connect with nature, and the Fill a Fish initiative is a fantastic collaborative project that can help us all do that – from the young people who are designing the sculptures right through to the families, parents, locals and visitors who will end up using them.”
Pictured: Paul Bugden – Policy Officer at the Clean Earth Trust, Angela Salmon – Head of Operations and Education at the Nature Commission, Sara Le Page – Governance, Risk and Compliance Director at Suntera (Guernsey) Limited, and Mark Cook – Lecturer of Art & Design at the TGI College.
