VILLAGERS had a go at an ancient martial art in a bid to help break a world record and raise funds for charity.

Nearly 50 people filled Flexsys Community Hall, in Acrefair, yesterday for a 30-minute Tai Chi session, hosted by instructor Mike Gleed.

The event was one of many held across the UK to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, dedicated to the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

The aim was to break the world record for the largest number of people to simultaneously take part in sessions.

The Chinese currently hold the world record for the largest Tai Chi event with 33,996 people.

Mike, who has been teaching Tai Chi for 20 years, said: “It went well. The idea was everybody in Britain would start their session at 11am and run it for half an hour.

“We were all given log cards to count the number of people and will send these off to the organisers.

“We’ve also had to take photos of the whole group as proof.

“We’ve raised £110.88 for Breakthrough, so even if we don’t break the record, it was for a good cause.”