Diocesan News15 Dec 16

Dean releases Black Santa funds for humanitarian aid in Aleppo and Yemen

On the eve of the 40th Belfast Cathedral Sit–out for charities, Dean John Mann has made two £5,000 grants from Black Santa funds in response to the humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen.

The money will come from donations to Black Santa made before start of this year’s sit–out, and the grants will be directed through Christian Aid and its partners in Syria and Yemen.

The Dean said a representative of Christian Aid had assured him that the resources will reach those most in need despite the receiving countries being in such turmoil.

Through NGO partners working on the ground in these countries, the money will help the operation of organisations that are already working with the displaced and those in refugee camps. 

The Dean said that as the Aleppo situation is moving so rapidly and dangerously, he was assured the people being helped are those directly fleeing the conflict zone, and, should the proposed evacuation take place, there are people close to the scene who can use the resources that donations provide to help support those who have escaped with little more than their lives.

Commenting on the grants, the Dean said: “The focus of much of the Black Santa collection is local money for local charities, but a smaller but significant place has always been given for overseas aid. 

“The need to support the vulnerable elsewhere, at the same time as encouraging the work of our community–based charities in Northern Ireland, is not something that we would ever want to lose sight of, and the generosity of the people of Belfast and beyond will continue to be deeply valued by the many as well as the few.”

The 2016 Black Santa Sit–out begins on the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral in Donegall Street at 10am on Friday December 16.