Ever wondered what happens to all the tents and camping items that are left behind at the Reading Festival? They don't get dumped in the landfill, they are re-used by charities and community organisations as part of the Give Me Shelter campaign.

Each year tens of thousands of tents and other camping items are discarded by festival goers across the country.

"It's heartening to see such a great response from festival goers to this and our other green initiatives at this year's festival."

Melvyn Benn, managing director of Festival Republic

In response, Reading Festival organisers Festival Republic ensured the Pack it Down & Hand It In message was heard loud and clear at this year's event.

Give Me Shelter is a campaign to collect tents and other items, directing them for reuse in association with international charity Global Hand.

The project aims to reduce the number of tents going to landfill and shift attitudes away from viewing festival camping gear as disposable single use items.

Tents and other items were collected and donated to charities including Crossroads Central Asia, Blythswood Care, Mission Without Borders UK, Union Rescue Mission & Rotary UK, Huruma Rehabilitation Programme and Ora International.

In addition to tents handed in to Give Me Shelter, scouting groups and other community organisations were invited to come to the campgrounds on Bank Holiday Monday to salvage any other useful items that festival goers had left on site.

The Give Me Shelter was first trialled at the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2006, where 300 tents were donated.

In 2007 a staggering 3000 tents, 2000 camping mats/airbeds, 1800 sleeping bags, 1800 chairs, 1000 soft items and many other useful items including cookers, coolers, cutlery/crockery kits, pots and pans, gas bottles, clothes and unopened food were also recovered.

Managing Director of Festival Republic, Melvyn Benn said: "The response to this year's Give Me Shelter campaign was phenomenal. I am committed to upping the green credentials of Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals, and it's heartening to see such a great response from festival goers to this and our other green initiatives at this year's festival."

The message was spread via 200 'Green Messenger' volunteers to help promote Give Me Shelter and other green incentives at the two festivals.

Early analysis shows the use of public transport to the festival sites has increased, with an encouraging 30 per cent boost in coach usage at Leeds.

The cup return incentive, whereby festival goers earned 10p for every cup they brought back to the bar, was by far the most successful of the initiatives. A mammoth 94 per cent of cups used were returned to the bar.