Black Santa hopeful that last year’s total will be exceeded
The Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd John Mann, has given an update on the Black Santa charity collection that ran outside St Anne’s Cathedral right up to Christmas Eve 2012.
“At the beginning of the New Year the total in the bank stood at a little over £154,000. This may seem some way from last year’s total of £185,000, but is in fact £6,000 more than at the same stage in January 2012.
“The fact that it is still set to rise is because of a number of factors: The coin under 50p in value has still to be counted (and 87 weighty bags of it were sent to the bank), cheques are still arriving from parishes, individuals and institutions and we have the Gift Aid tax refunds to add – which could well amount to £10,000.
“So we are hopeful that the first target – to exceed the total from Christmas 2011 will be passed and we may get close to the overall target of £200,000. May I once again thank everyone who has contributed for their generosity.”
The Dean is now preparing for the annual ‘Good Samaritan Service’ which takes place at the Cathedral at 3.30 pm on Sunday February 3. The names of those presenting the cheques and the list of Charities receiving a grant will be announced in due course.