- The challenge, in aid of ALS charities, took the internet by storm in 2014
- It raised hundreds of thousands of dollars
- It is potentially getting a second lease of life
Wasn’t 2014 a simpler time? A piece of it is coming back in the form of the revival of the Ice Bucket Challenge, this time for a different cause.
The challenge went viral 11 years ago in effort to raise awareness of ALS, a form of motor neurone disease (sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). It raised $220 million in total for ALS charities and everyone from Taylor Swift to Lady Gaga to the Beckhams took part.
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Social media users filmed themselves pouring a bucket of ice cold water over themselves. They also had to nominate more of their friends to keep the challenge going and donate to ALS charities.
According to the ALS Association, 17 million people took part.
What’s the ice bucket challenge revival all about?
The new ice bucket challenge is an initiative led by students at University of South Carolina’s Mental Illness Needs Discussion club. It is a very new organisation, set up after a student at the college died by suicide in March 2025.
They launched the ‘Speak Your Mind Ice Bucket Challenge’ to raise money for Active Minds, a non-profit organisation focusing on challenging the stigma around mental health in young people and adults.
MIND were originally hoping to raise a few hundred US dollars when they launched their campaign in March. Once they crossed the $175,000 mark, they set about making it to $250,000. Now, they’ve raised over $300,000.
“It started as a random idea, inspired by the original ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and how powerful that movement was,” Wade Jefferson, Sophomore at USC and Founder of the MIND club, said in a statement on the school’s website.
“We wanted to bring that same energy to mental health,” he added. “Watching it take off – seeing people we admire, like Peyton Manning, join in – has been surreal. We’re proud, grateful, and just excited to see how far it’s gone and continue to go.”
What have the ALS Association said about it?
The ALS Association has been rather positive about it all. They released a statement responding to the revival, saying they were “thrilled to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge live on in new forms of activism.”
They added: “We applaud efforts to raise awareness for causes like mental health – an issue that also affects the ALS community in profound ways.”
Has there been criticism?
The return of the Ice Bucket Challenge has proved divisive. While some have praised the element of nostalgia and goodwill to it, others have argued it overshadowed the purpose of the original challenge. Some pointed out that it was so needed in the first place because public knowledge of ALS isn’t especially comprehensive.
