I Did the ALS / MND Ice Bucket Challenge (in Style)
Date: 31/08/2014
Ice Ice Baby
I'll be honest, I'm not the most charitable of people. As a person who's been bullied by "chuggers"* into signing up to a £10 a month scheme at least twice, I'm always a little sceptical about parting from my cash. It's very easy to be swayed by all the discussion as to where the money really goes, the ethics about who it should really go to and a whole bunch of other arguments that single charity out as being a bad thing.
*Charity muggers. It's a disgusting term, I know, but it aptly describes the folks who harass you into parting with bank account details up and down Park Street in Bristol quite aptly. Apparently they're not allowed to take one-off donations anymore, which rather negates the point in carrying around the charity buckets?
However, I'll say that as charity bandwagons go, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a surprisingly clever way of getting people to donate. I can only wonder what other charity memes will present themselves in years to come off of the back of this one. Either way, it got me to make a fool of myself and willingly part with a small amount of cash at the same time, which is no mean feat given my scepticism.
In the video I successfully managed to completely gloss over who to donate to, so I'll make up for it here by presenting two links to the main organisations involved:
Motor Neurone Disease is a terrifying condition that often leaves people trapped inside their own bodies. Imagine living through Johnny Got His Gun, I genuinely can't comprehend the sheer horror of the idea. Tipping a bucket of water over my head is a trifling gesture in the grand scheme of things.
Here's the video (please excuse the one random f-word, that was Mother and it's far too funny not to bleep out):
I did my nominations via Facebook - two really good friends and my dearest brother!
I mention Patrick Stewart's attempt at the challenge in my video - he did actually do it with a lot more class than I achieved.