Diocesan News
‘A Day for Joy’ as 205 charities receive Black Santa funding
The proceeds of the 2011 Black Santa sit–out will be distributed to 205 charities at the annual Good Samaritans’ Service in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, on Sunday February 5.
More than £180,000 was donated over the course of the week–long sit–out staged by the Dean of St Anne’s, the Very Rev John Mann, and members of the Cathedral Chapter. The sit–out ended on Christmas Eve.
The tradition began in 1976 when Dean Sammy Crooks staged a vigil on the steps of the Cathedral to beg for poor and charitable causes. His black Anglican clerical robe earned him the name Black Santa which has stuck over the years and is now a festive tradition in the heart of Belfast.
Dean Mann, in his first year as Black Santa, said it was vital that the charities who do so much in our community and abroad continue to receive support.
“As I read through the submissions, the need was clear, and my hopes rise for these organisations, as we see what small sums of money can do in the hands of dedicated volunteers,” Dean Mann said.
“My admiration for the self–giving of those offering hours of time and effort for others is unbounded.”
Much of the money donated will remain within the community and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland. Well known charities like Action Cancer, Cruse Bereavement Care and the Northern Ireland Hospice will receive a donation, as will smaller charities including Antrim Reminiscence Group, Seagoe Youth Club and St Mary’s Primary School, Divis.
A proportion of the money goes overseas, channelled largely through Christian Aid.
Presenting this year’s grants are BBC newsreader and presenter Donna Traynor; Professor Alistair Adair, Vice–Chancellor of the University of Ulster, and Lady Rachael Gregson, who is involved in the support of charitable endeavours.
Dean Mann said: “On Sunday February 5 the emphasis of the Black Santa sit–out moves from acknowledging the generosity of those who are giving the money to the charities which are receiving it.
More follows….
Black Santa funding….2
“This is no less important, as we shall look around the Cathedral and see 205 people representing the charities and their work in our community and abroad. The scope and scale of the voluntary work given by thousands of people across Northern Ireland is something I have come to appreciate anew with my experience of being Black Santa for the first time.
“I hope that each person giving of their time and abilities to help others will feel the presence of others doing the same, from Enniskillen to Coleraine, from Kilkeel to Dungannon.
“This is not so much a day for praise, more a day for joy.”
The Good Samaritans’ Service gets underway at 3.30pm on February 5.
For further information contact Karen Bushby, Connor Diocesan Communications Officer, on 028 9082 8874 / 4066 0798 or 07766 103880 (mob) or email [email protected]
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
There will be a photo/interview opportunity at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, before the Good Samaritans’ Service. Photographers should be at the entrance to the Cathedral at 3pm on Sunday February 5 2012.
The full list of recipients of funding to be awarded at the Good Samaritans’ Service on Sunday February 5 2012 is as follows:
- ABABU – Irish medium children’s drama project
- ABF The Soldiers’ Charity
- Acceptable Enterprises (Larne) Ltd
- Action Cancer
- Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID)
- ADD NI – Children’s Charity for those with AD/HD
- Adoption Routes
- Adoption UK
- Adopt NI
- Adventure Leadership Training
- Age Concern – Causeway
- Age NI
- Aids Care Education and Training (Northern Ireland)
- Aisling Centre Enniskillen
- Alliance Youth Works
- Antrim Happy Hearts (formerly Age Concern Antrim)
- Antrim Reminiscence Group
- Antrim Retirement Group
- Arellian Nursey School
- Artability NI
- Arthritis Care Northern Ireland
- Asra Hawariat School Fund – Ethiopia
- Autism Initiatives Northern Ireland
- Ballymena Area Children’s Contact Centre
- Barnardo’s Northern Ireland
- Bangor and North Down Samaritans
- Belfast Central Mission
- Belfast Central CAP (Christians Against Poverty) Centre
- Belfast City Hospital Association of Friends
- Belfast County Guides
- Bennet House (Royal British Legion)
- British Red Cross
- Bryson Charitable Group
- Cahoots NI Ltd
- Camphill Community Glencraig
- Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood (CLIC) Sargent NI
- Cancer Research
- Care in Crisis
- Carrickfergus YMCA
- Carrickmannon M.R.I. Support
- CAUSE
- Central Belfast Contact Centre
- Charis
- Cheers Youth Centre – Ballymoney
- Children’s Heartbeat Trust
- Children’s Law Centre
- Christian Aid
- Christian Education Movement (NI)
- Christian Ministry Centre – Dunmurry
- Church of Ireland Board for Social Responsibility
- Church of Ireland Working Party on Disability
- Conservation Volunteers (NI)
- Council for the Homeless (NI)
- Cruse Bereavement Care/Young Cruse
- Cruse Prison Support Service
- Council for Christian and Jews
- Cystic Fibrosis Trust
- Diabetes UK Northern Ireland
- Disability Action
- Down’s Syndrome Association
- Drake Music Project Northern Ireland
- Edgcumbe Club for Visually Handicapped
- Embrace
- Epilepsy Action NI
- Eyeless Trust
- Family Caring Centre
- Family Mediation Northern Ireland
- Families First
- Fertility Counselling Service NI
- Fibromyalgia Support Northern Ireland
- Friends of Drumross
- Friends of Saint Columba’s Hospital – Hazaribagh
- Friends of the Grove Park
- Foyle Down Syndrome Trust
- Fusion Theatre
- Giants Causeway Community Association
- Gingerbread Northern Ireland
- Glenluce Quality Caring Centre
- Goal Line Youth Trust
- Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland
- Healing through Remembering
- Holywood After School Club
- Homeplus NI Ltd
- Homestart – Ards, Comer and Peninsular Area
- Homestart Armagh and Dungannon
- Homestart – Newry and Mourne
- Homestart – Toome and Ballyclare
- Hope Centre (Ballymena Family and Addiction Support)
- Huntington’s Disease Association of Northern Ireland
- Infertility Network UK Northern Ireland
- Joanmount Open Door
- Joseph Project
- Kilcooley Women’s Centre
- Kilkeel Parish Bridge Association
- Killyman Community Outreach
- Kilskeery Parish Senior Citizens Association
- Kinship Care Northern Ireland
- Knock Child Contact Centre
- Leonard Cheshire Disability
- Lighthouse Hostel – Ballymena
- Live Music Now
- Love for Life
- Marie Curie Cancer Care
- Mary Peters Trust
- Men to Men
- Meningitis Research Foundation
- Meningitis Trust
- Merchant Navy Association NI
- Mission to Seafarers – Belfast
- Mothers’ Union Literacy and Development Fund
- Mount Merrion after School Club
- Muckamore Parish Development Association
- Multiple Sclerosis Society Northern Ireland
- Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
- Myasthenia Gravis Association
- Newington Day Centre
- Newtownabbey Gateway Club
- Next Step
- Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children
- Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice
- Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers
- Northern Ireland Hospice
- Northern Ireland Leukaemia Research Fund
- Northern Ireland Lupus Group
- Northern Ireland ME Association
- Northern Ireland Prison Service Central Benevolent Fund
- Northern Ireland Women in Fisheries
- NSPCC
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder NI
- Oh Yeah Music Centre
- Open Arts
- PAKT Lurgan (after school programme)
- Parenting Northern Ireland
- Parents Education as Autism Therapists (PEAT)
- Parkinson’s UK (Belfast Branch)
- Quaker Service
- Race against Multiple Sclerosis
- Reconnect
- Rehability – Antrim
- Remember our Child
- Reminiscence Network Northern Ireland
- Renewal and Outreach in the City
- Restored Ministries – Coleraine
- Riddell Creche
- Royal Airforce Association
- Royal Artillery Association (NI)
- Royal National Lifeboat Institution
- RP Fighting Blindness
- RVH2KARE
- Saint Comgall’s Senior Citizens
- Saint Hilda’s Youth Group
- Saint Mary Primary School, Divis – project with Traveller children.
- Saint Saviour’s Kidz Club, Craigavon
- Saint Stephen’s Afterschool Club
- Saintfield Wednesday Youth Drop–in
- Salvation Army – Ireland Division
- Samaritans – Ballymena
- Seagoe Youth Club
- Seymour Hill Age NI (Kilmakee) Activity
- Shelter Northern Ireland
- Shankill Women’s Centre
- Shopmobility Belfast
- Simon Community Northern Ireland
- Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association
- Soroptimist International of Bangor
- SOS Bus
- Southern Area Hospice
- St John Ambulance (Youth)
- Summer Madness
- Sunshine Club for Blind and Visually Impaired People
- Tamlaght Community Association
- The Bytes Project
- The Cedar Foundation
- The Church’s Ministry of Healing
- The Corrymeela Community
- The Dock
- The Elizabeth Svendsen Trust (for children with disabilities)
- The Fishermen’s Mission NI
- The Holywood Rudolf Steiner School
- The Lambeg Project
- The Lighthouse Trust (for children with cerebral palsy)
- The Link Family and Community Centre
- The Mission to Seafarers – South Africa
- The Not Forgotten Association – NI Branch
- The Omnibus Partnership
- The Paget’s Association
- The Prince’s Trust
- The Pushkin Trust – uniting children through creativity
- The Royal Irish Regiment Benevolent Fund
- The Stroke Association Northern Ireland
- The Wider Vision Club
- The Zacchaeus Outreach Project
- Tinylife
- Trendsetters Irvinestown (Formerly Age Concern)
- Tullywhisker Regeneration Association
- Ulster Youth Orchestra
- USPG NI
- WAVE Trauma Centres
- Welcome Organisation
- Wellsprings of Life
- Willowfield Parish Church (Men’s Ministry)
- Windsor Women’s Centre
- Women’s Aid (ABCL&N regions)
- Xpression
- Youth Initiatives – Poleglass
For further information please contact:
Connor Diocesan Communications Officer
Contact Details
Karen Bushby
028 4066 0798
07766103880
[email protected]