Black Santa is back on the Cathedral steps!

Monday December 16th 2024

Christian Aid CEO Rosamond Bennett with Dean Forde and his new mascot

Black Santa is back on the steps of Belfast Cathedral, with the 48^th annual sit-out for charities getting underway at 10am on Monday December 16. Check out our photo gallery below!

The launch of Dean Stephen’s Forde’s seventh sit-out was as always well supported by local media and by the Mayor of Belfast – Councillor Micky Murray joining the Dean at the famous barrel soon after the event got underway and even donning a black Anglican cloak for a time as he made a donation.

A new Black Santa has joined Dean Forde and the Canons and clergy of the Cathedral – the as yet unnamed Teddy dressed in the familiar Black Santa attire was presented to the Dean by Mildred Irvine who had not only knit cuddly Black Santa’s clothes, but had included a barrel complete with rattling coins!

The Dean will stand on the steps of St Anne’s morning and afternoon every day until the afternoon of Christmas Eve, with the exception of Sunday December 22 when he will be busy with the annual Carols in the City service.

The Black Santa Appeal was established by Dean Sammy Crooks in December 1976 – its name coined by the media on account of the warm black Anglican cloak worn by the Dean and his successors.

This year’s appeal is making the most of new technology – passers-by can make a donation simply with a tap of a card or phone!

For those who cannot make it to Donegall Street, there is also the opportunity to donate online at https://www.belfastblacksanta.org/.

In addition to raising funds to support small charities across Northern Ireland with the usual portion going to Christian Aid as is has done since the beginning, the Appeal this year will focus on families who have a member with autism and also on charities working to prevent young people, and in particular young people with a lived experience of care, from finding themselves homeless as they move to independent living.

For further details on the impact of the Black Santa Appeal, 10 short videos have been prepared from a selection of the charities supported last year. These can be viewed at www.belfastblacksanta.org/charities.