The sky over Mellieħa Bay was awash in splashes of colour yesterday as about 1,000 schoolchildren flew kites they fashioned to send a message in favour of the environment.

"Save the world; we have nowhere else to go," read one of the messages attached to the kites, written by the pupils of the participating Mellieħa and Mosta primary schools that fall within the Maria Regina College.

The initiative was not just a show of craftsmanship and colour - the kites, made by groups in every class, carried slogans in favour of the environment.

"Green: that's how we'd like the world to be," was another message streamed across the sky, while others invited anyone on the ground to "come with me and hug a tree".

The aim of the initiative, the brainchild of Mellieħa primary school head Mary Rose Leone, was to further the pupils' education about the environment, while reaching out to other children in need.

In fact, donations were collected in aid of the Puttinu Cares Foundation that caters for child cancer patients.

In the run-up to the event, the schools brought over veteran kite builder Lino Psaila of Żejtun, who taught staff members and pupils how to produce the manuċċa.

Mr Psaila, who has been making kites with a passion for half a century and is probably Malta's foremost expert in the field, passed on the fading trade through a session with every class.

Apart from some 70 kites, the children also flew balloons and were joined by members of the staff of the China Culture Centre in Valletta, who displayed their own colourful versions on the sandy beach.

"The weather was beautiful. At first, there was hardly any wind, but we prayed and it picked up," said the Mellieħa primary school secretary Joyce Fenech.

The event was also attended by the Parliamentary Secretary for tourism, Mario de Marco and the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport, Clyde Puli.