Artist captures Black Santa sit-out and total passes £184,000!

Thursday December 22nd 2016

Artist Ray Elwood draws the Rev Canon Mark Taylor.

Black Santa has been recorded on camera many times over the decades, but this is the first time, we think, that the sit-out has been captured by an artist.

Ray Elwood, artist and tutor and a member of the Ulster Watercolour Society, came along to do a charcoal picture for display at his own club, Dundonald Art Club.

He selected the Rev Canon Mark Taylor, rector of Whitehead and Islandmagee as his subject, and when we caught up with him he had already captured Mark’s likeness, despite numb fingers.

Ray will now take his picture home to add colour to finish it off, and we hope to have sight of it once it is ready for display.

It has been a busy day on the steps of St Anne’s. Dean John Mann did an interview with Frank Mitchell on U105 this morning, then another interview with Nicola Weir for tomorrow’s Stephen Nolan show and Nicola also recorded some of the wonderful concert presented by Cathedral Lay Clerk Mark Tilley as part of our Christmas Cracker series. You can watch part of Mark’s concert on YouTube.

Visitors are welcome to pop into St Anne’s tomorrow (Friday) at 2pm for the last in this series of free concerts when Master of the Choristers David Stevens will do a Christmas organ recital – well worth taking 15 minutes out of a busy day to enjoy.

The Dean’s total is climbing, which some incredibly large donations – today he is close to the £185,000 mark, with the dry weather encouraging people to come and say hello.