Hitchin dad to don 100th outfit after year of fancy dress

Nick Jemetta first wore a costume for a meeting after doing a Joe Wicks fancy dress Friday PE class

A father who has worn fancy dress outfits to online meetings during the pandemic is preparing to put on his 100th costume.

Nick Jemetta, from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, has been switching up his workwear to raise money for mental health charities.

He first attended a meeting in costume after a Joe Wicks fancy dress PE class.

On Friday he will put on his 100th outfit in the hope of raising a total of more than £10,000.

He decided to continue with the idea after noticing the positive reaction from his colleagues.

"Everyone was just laughing, smiling and asking questions," Mr Jemetta said.

"It was lifting people up in a time when people were struggling."

Mr Jemetta is raising money for various charities

The father-of-two said he wanted to make his colleagues smile, particularly those he knew were living alone with little human interaction.

After donning costumes ranging from Wonder Woman to Where's Wally?, the 37-year-old has raised more than £9,000.

Mr Jemetta has also encouraged others to take part by wearing creative outfits and posting photos on social media with #FancyDress4MentalHealth.

Mr Jemetta said being more open about his mental health has helped him

He said he wore fancy dress to talk about mental health to make it a less daunting conversation.

"Mental health conversations don't have to be scary - in my experience, having a conversation won't be a trigger to someone taking an action that you might not want them to take," he said.

"It's more likely to get them talking.

"We all have mental health, we're all going to struggle with our mental health at some point, but those bad weeks, those bad days, and those bad months, they don't define you - they don't limit you and they don't place any cap on your potential or your happiness."