The Reading Festival air guitarist community raised money for charity and smashed the world record for the largest guitar ensemble on August 21.

ActionAid had invited all the early bird festival-goers to their Bollocks To Poverty tent - a regular Reading feature - to make the attempt. With 254 sweaty revellers under canvas, the record was thrashed as axe-men and women shredded their way through Bon Jovi's You Give Love A Bad Name.

Anella Wickenden, who heads up the youth team at ActionAid, said: “This is our seventh year at Reading and we always have a fantastic response from people who want to get involved and join in the fight against global poverty.

“We want to say a big thanks to everyone who joined us to break the world record. The atmosphere in the tent was electric. Who needs real instruments when you’ve got hundreds of Reading fans all armed and ready to rock their air guitars?”

For more info, see www.actionaid.org.uk/bollocks/

ActionAid is a British charity that works with 50 countries across the globe for fair trade, debt relief, education, emergencies, conflict and health.