THE Mayor and Mayoress of St Helens are due to tackle the ice bucket challenge this week.

Councillor Geoff and Carol Pearl will have a bucket of water tipped over their heads after signing up to the social media craze that has already seen global names such as Simon Cowell, Bill Gates and Tom Cruise take part in the stunt.

The challenge is due to take place outside St Helens Town Hall in Victoria Square at 4pm on Wednesday, August 27.

The civic couple will be joined by fellow councillors in the hopes of raising funds for the Mayor’s Appeal which this year is the Autism and Aspergers Society.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started as a way to raise money for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or motor neurone disease as it’s known in the UK.

Pete Frates, a baseball player who suffers from the disease, volunteered to have it done to him and since then the challenge has gone viral with some of the most famous people in the world drenching themselves with freezing cold water for a good cause.

After completing the challenge, the idea is to nominate two friends, who then have 24 hours to soak themselves or make a donation to charity if they would sooner stay dry.

It has become a very popular way of raising money and Mayor and Mayoress’s attempt will be posted online for people to make donations.

The Mayor said: “It’s such a worthy cause and I thought it would be a novel way of raising money for the appeal.”