Governor George Fergusson yesterday chilled out for charity.

Mr Fergusson took the ice bucket challenge — to raise awareness about the killer disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) — at Government House after being nominated by Premier Michael Dunkley.

And Mr Fergusson recruited Ann Smith Gordon of cancer care charity PALS and Government House gardener Mark Anthony Swan to dump a bucket of iced water over him.

Mr Fergusson said: “I have friends who have died from Motor Neurone Disease and am very happy indeed to make a contribution to research on ALS, which is a form of Motor Neurone Disease.

“But I thought it would be right also to make a contribution to a charity in Bermuda, so I have asked Ann Smith Gordon of PALS to do the actual pouring.

“It’s a variation on the good, kind and charitable activity that she normally does but will earn PALS a contribution.”

And he added that Mr Swan “normally waters the Government House garden, not the Governor.”

And Mr Fergusson pledged to nominate three other people to take the challenge.

The ice bucket challenge went global earlier this year, with members of the public and celebrities lining up to take part and make a $100 donation to ALS research.

ALS — also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease after the 1930s New York Yankees baseball star who died of the condition — is a degenerative disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and leads to loss of control of muscles.