Why does being Belfast’s fifth Black Santa matter so much to me as the Dean of St Anne’s Cathedral?
This question has two answers. Firstly, the esteem with which the people of this province hold the Black Santa Appeal.
Some people carry on a tradition of giving which was begun by their late father or mother. It is a very special way of remembering.
Today parents out shopping will bring their children to give jars filled with pennies or pounds to place in the Black Santa barrel.
Belfast offices will have a “whipround” from all their staff to add to Black Santa’s total.
The local MG Owners Club polished their cars to drive to the cathedral and make their donation.
And from school carol services, with the cathedral packed to the doors, the collection is given to the Black Santa Appeal.
Read more
The Secretary of State is given a tour of Belfast Cathedral by Dean Stephen Forde
Then there were the eight football supporters from Gent, visiting Belfast for the Europa Conference League match against Larne. “What is this for?” they asked.
The importance of this 48-year-old tradition is to be found in the question from the Gent football supporters. “What is this for?” they asked.
The Black Santa Appeal is a channel for funds to some 120 amazing local charities which are too small to have their own fundraising departments.
Charities like the Pepper John’s Memorial in Downpatrick. This small charity provides a community hub for local people who live with the experience of someone close who has taken their own life.
For such families, Christmas can be the hardest of times.
But this is a charity with an ambition to “reduce suicide to zero”. A small community charity with a massive ambition.
Or in Belfast, Redeeming Our Communities, a charity that links a local church with its community, and offers a community shop selling great quality donated school uniforms.
These are just two examples from some among the 120 local charities supported last year, demonstrating the range and passion given by volunteers in charities across the land.
It is for them that Black Santa works passionately in the days and weeks before Christmas, collecting online and by cash or by card. But it all depends on the generosity of those people young and old who will make their donation, all the way up to Christmas Eve.
Worth standing in the rain for!