The 2022 Black Santa Sit-out at Belfast Cathedral raised almost £130,000, and this will be passed on to around 130 charities at the annual Good Samaritans Service, taking place in St Anne’s on Sunday February 5 at 3.30pm.

The money was raised during the eight days leading up to and including Christmas Eve, when Dean Stephen Forde, supported by Canons of the Cathedral and fellow clergy, donned the familiar black Anglican cloak to stand behind the Black Santa barrel on the steps of St Anne’s.

This year’s giving focuses on charities working on the front line supporting those impacted by the cost of living crisis and charities who have been helping refugee communities across the province.

Those attending the Good Samaritans Service will be uplifted by the music of Cantemus, a choir based in the north west of the province, and it is hoped that some of the high profile political and community leaders who lent the Dean a hand at this year’s sit-out, along with some well-known regular supporters of the Black Santa Appeal, will be in attendance.