Dhoon School’s traditional Manx Mhelliah held at The Swan Public House in Ramsey has raised just over ?1000.

The event on Friday night was organized by the teachers of Dhoon School, and was hosted by relief manager Emma and her team at The Swan.

The total raised stands at ?1,110 and this money will be put towards the Dhoon School Fund which is used to provide additional resources and extra-curricular opportunities to enhance the learning experiences of all of the pupils.

The children’s School Council were involved in the event too, writing to local firms and businesses to both promote the Mhelliah and to ask for items to be donated. Headteacher Max Kelly said that the response was fantastic, adding “we were completely bowled over with the genouristy shown by members of the community. We had parents sending in donations, homegrown and homemade produce given to us to auction, and lots of local businesses provided items for us to sell, too. Without this support the Mhelliah would not have been the success it was. I’d like to place on record the thanks of the school to everyone at The Swan, and to everyone who donated items and bought items.”

The event was compered on the evening by Simon Scott, who acted as the auctioneer, steering the bidding skillfully with a mix of gentle persuasion and lots of wit and comedy. A highlight of the evening was some telephone bidding from Lanzarote which Simon had organized with one of the school’s parents who happened to be visiting that part of the world, and this helped ensure a very good price for 20kg of Manx potatoes!

The event was attended by pupils’ parents, the teaching staff of the school and the school’s Board of Governors.