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Black Santa 2025 – special focus on supporting those with MND, MS and children with arthritis

Thursday October 23rd 2025

Dean Stephen Forde will begin his eight Black Santa Sit-out for charities on the steps of Belfast Cathedal on December 15.

The 49^th annual Belfast Black Santa Appeal will have a particular focus on supporting charities working to support people with Motor Neuron Disease, those with Multiple Sclerosis, and children with arthritis.

The 2025 sit-out will this year run from Monday December 15 to Wednesday December 24, when the Dean of Belfast, the Very Rev Stephen Forde, will once again take to the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral daily to raise funds to support local and international charities.

Dean Forde said: “For my eighth year as Belfast’s Black Santa, I look forward to raising much needed funds to support local charities across our province for the wonderful and life-changing work which they each do.

“As I continue the legacy created by Dean Sammy Crooks in 1976, when 49 years ago he held the first Dean of Belfast’s Christmas Appeal, I know that once more the people of Belfast and far beyond will take this Appeal to their hearts and you will be as generous as ever.”

The Dean continued: “In 2024, I was overwhelmed that we were able to raise £200,000 which was distributed to 104 local charities, each with a registered income of less that £250,000. These are the smaller charities, which do not have their own fundraising departments, but which each offer incredible support to their own local communities.”

As in each of the past 49 years, the Appeal also made a single overseas donation to support the work of Christian Aid, which this year has celebrated its 80^th anniversary.

“In September this year, I had the opportunity to visit Kenya and Burundi in East Africa with the CEO and Chair of Christian Aid Ireland to see for myself how your donations make a life-changing difference to communities who experience extreme poverty, and the consequences of brutal civil war,” Dean Forde said.

In addition to the wide range of charities supported annually, each year the Black Santa Appeal has a special focus on a group of charities working in a particular area.

Dean Forde has announced that for the 2025 Black Santa Appeal, the focus will be on charities working with three groups of people:

Charities which support individuals with a diagnosis of Motor Neuron Disease (MND)
Charities which support individuals with a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Charities which support Children with a diagnosis of Arthritis.

“Each of these conditions is life changing, and in many cases will become progressively more severe,” the Dean said. “A diagnosis can be devastating. Sometimes even the fittest of sports personalities can be given such a diagnosis that will impact every aspect of their own life, and that of their closest families.

“For many who live with such a diagnosis, life can become increasingly isolated for themselves and those who provide their day-to-day care. That is why charities working in these fields provide such vital and important support, day and night.

“It is my hope that, despite the continued economic difficulties we all face, the generosity of individuals, companies and organisations will mean that we can exceed the amazing total raised in 2024.”

The Dean said that in March this year, he had the ‘unforgettable opportunity’ to meet the King at the opening of the Sea Holly Gallery in Hill Street in the Cathedral Quarter, where King Charles was viewing 15 specially-commissioned paintings of ‘Characters of the Cathedral Quarter.’ Belfast’s Black Santa was one of those characters, featuring in a portrait painted by artist Ciaran Gallagher.

“I was given the chance to tell the King about the work and 49 year tradition of the Black Santa Appeal, and of the millions of pounds raised over those years,” Dean Forde said.

This year you can support the 2025 Black Santa Appeal in a number of ways:

By giving online, at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast: Belfast Black Santa Sitout Appeal 2025
You can write a cheque donation to ‘Belfast Black Santa Appeal’ and post it to: Belfast Black Santa Appeal, Belfast Cathedral, Donegall Street, Belfast, BT1 2HB.

If you wish us to receive the Gift Aid on your donation, please include the Gift Aid Declaration Form below.

Make a BACS direct transfer to the Black Santa Appeal. Please contact the Cathedral office on 028 9032 8332 (Office Hours) for BACS details.
You can make your donation in person, either by credit or debit card on our dedicated Black Santa ‘Tap Machine.’
Or donate in the time-honoured way, by making a donation of notes or coins into the Black Santa barrel.

And in addition to the Black Santa donation point on the Cathedral steps, a second lunchtime donation point will be available on certain days at the Cathedral’s gates on Exchange Street West, opposite the entrance to St Anne’s Square, following a successful trial last year.

Dean Forde said: “Once again this year we appreciate the immense support of the financial services company PwC. Volunteers from PwC have recorded videos from a number of the charities supported by the 2024 Appeal.

“Through these videos we gain a glimpse of the vast array of charities making a difference to the lives of so many people through the generosity of those who have given to the Black Santa Appeal. These videos are both humbling and inspiring.”

If you are a local charity and you wish to apply to the 2025 Black Santa Appeal for an award to your charity, please download the Application Form from the Belfast Cathedral website and return it by Friday December 12 2025.

Dean Forde said: “In this year of 2025, the 49^th year of Black Santa, I hope that the generosity of individuals, companies and organisations will match and even exceed the generosity of recent years, so that what you give this year will make a lasting difference to the lives of those who face every day with courage, with hope and with a belief in measure of human kindness. Thank you for the generosity you will show in 2025.”

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