WHEN Basingstoke college principal Anthony Bravo takes on a challenge, he doesn’t do it half-heartedly.

Mr Bravo, who is principal at Basingstoke College of Technology, amused students and staff when he took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Dressed in his work suit, Mr Bravo accepted the challenge after being nominated by his brother Paul and Gazette editor Mark Jones.

And students and staff at the college, in Worting Road, ensured they didn’t miss the chance to watch their leader become the next victim of the social networking viral craze, gathering in the grounds of BCoT, in Worting Road with mobile phones to record the entertainment last Friday.

The Ice Bucket Challenge went viral after it was initially started to raise money and awareness for ALS – the charity which supports sufferers of motor neurone disease – and has seen thousands of people across the world post videos on to social networking sites of buckets of freezing cold water being thrown over them.

Good sport Mr Bravo, who decided to use his challenge to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, grimaced as a huge bucket of freezing ice cold water was dumped over his head – and he then turned the tables by drenching a member of staff and BCoT students from the Student Union, using actual ice buckets borrowed from the college restaurant.

Speaking to The Gazette before the soaking, Mr Bravo said: “I want to thank Mark and my brother for nominating me. It’s good to raise money for a good cause. It’s good, harmless fun.”

Mr Bravo chose to nominate his deputy principal David Moir, chairman of Basingstoke Town Football Club and founder of Centerprise International Rafi Razzak, and Basingstoke business boss and former BCoT student Gary Livingstone to follow in his Ice Bucket Challenge footsteps.

  • Watch Mr Bravo’s Ice Bucket Challenge on The Gazette website basingstokegazette.co.uk.