This year’s Black Santa Appeal has yielded a record breaking sum. The 10th annual appeal, organised by St Ann’s Church on Dawson Street, Dublin, has raised an amazing €34,000. This figure far surpasses all other collections over the last decade, which included the peak boom years.
The Black Santa Sit Out at St Ann’s ran over eight days before Christmas and concluded on Christmas Eve. The vicar and curate of St Ann’s, Revd David Gillespie and Revd Martin O’Connor, joined by colleagues from around the Diocese, collected daily outside the church accompanied by various choirs each lunchtime.
In a first this year, the Church of Ireland Archbishop, Michael Jackson and the Roman Catholic Archbishop, Diarmuid Martin, joined the appeal and collected outside the church together on the Thursday before Christmas.
The money raised by the Black Santa Appeal will be distributed to a number of charities on February 19 after Morning Service in St Ann’s. The guest preacher on the day will be the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, Michael Burrows.
The charities to benefit from the appeal will include St Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army, Protestant Aid, Trust, The Samaritans and Barnardos, together with the LauraLynn Foundation and several other small charities.
“The response to the Black Santa Appeal for 2011 has exceeded all expectations,” Archbishop Michael Jackson commented. “Thanks are due to the Vicar of St Ann’s and all members of his team.
“Having had the opportunity to participate in the appeal on Dawson Street, I can vouch personally for the generosity and enthusiasm of the people of Dublin. The fact that all donations go directly to those for whom they are intended is a wonderful feature of Black Santa. At what is for many a bleak time of year, I trust that the money given will be a source of help to those in greatest need and anxiety,” he added.
The Vicar of St Ann’s expressed his thanks to all who helped him during the eight day sit out, not least the two Archbishops who assisted with the collecting on the Thursday before Christmas.
“It is very gratifying that in the difficult economic times in which we are living that people continue to be so generous with their money,” Revd David Gillespie commented. ”The demands being placed on all charities are great and so we hope the money received, all of which is distributed, will help them to continue their good work.”
The Black Santa sit out is modeled on a similar appeal, which has been run by successive Deans of St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast for many years. It became known as the Black Santa appeal because of the long heavy black cloaks worn by the clergy to ward off the cold.