You may have noticed people sharing videos of themselves pouring buckets of ice over themselves all over the internet. Despite what it may look like at first, it is not just something that everyone does for no reason; it’s a new craze and it’s called the Ice Bucket challenge.

But what is the Ice Bucket Challenge? In short, it’s people soaking themselves in freezing cold water – usually by pouring a bucket of ice water over their heads – to raise money for charity.

Some people take part in the challenge wearing fancy dress or in public locations, others prefer do it in their swim wear in the garden. But all are aiming to raise as much money as possible.

The craze started in America with the aim of raising money for the Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS ) Association.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and Motor Neurone Disease, is a disease that attacks the spinal cord and can lead to speech difficulties, muscle spasms and even paralysis.

The bright idea came from former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, whose career was cut short by ALS after he was widely tipped to be a Boston Red Sox star.

 The reason it’s become such a phenomenon is that, once a person has given themselves a cold shower taking part in the challenge, the wet and freezing victim then nominates someone else to take the challenge.

They can either accept and donate money to the person’s chosen charity, or turn the offer down but donate more money to the ALS Association.

Source: www.mirror.co.uk