11.01.2023
Bountiful year as Dublin’s Black Santa raises over €80k
Dublin’s 2022 Black Santa Sit Out has raised a record–breaking sum. The appeal which took place outside St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, in the days before Christmas yielded a bumper €80,826.28. This is the largest amount ever collected by the appeal in Dublin and every cent donated will go directly to local charities.
The sit out, led by the Vicar, Canon Paul Arbuthnot and the caretaker, Fred Deane, took place outside St Ann’s amid every kind of weather in the nine days before Christmas. For the first time since 2019 choirs were able to join the team of volunteers bringing very welcome festive music to Dawson Street. Also for the first time, people could tap their cards to make donations. This was in addition to the opportunity to donate online and, of course, cash.
“All of us at St Ann’s, Dawson Street are absolutely delighted with this record–breaking total which will be distributed directly to good causes around Dublin. The generosity of the people of Dublin during the course of the sit–out was astonishing and deeply moving,” Canon Arbuthnot commented.
“This year the bulk of our giving will be distributed to charities which help alleviate the problem of homelessness in our capital city. As a city centre parish we see on a daily basis this need which requires addressing. The Black Santa Appeal is the first step in responding to it. The total raised is a profound mark of the goodness of the people of Dublin and to those in the parish who volunteered their time and energy to facilitate the appeal,” he added.
This was Canon Arbuthnot’s first Black Santa Sit Out and he said it had been a very positive experience.
“It was great to make connections with people on the street as they passed by. There was also the opportunity to meet a number of public representatives as they made their way to the Houses of the Oireachtas around the corner. I’m also grateful to the members of the clergy who came in to support me,” he said.
The presentation of the cheques to the charities benefiting from the appeal will take place at Morning Prayer on Sunday February 19 at 11.00 am in St Ann’s. The guest preacher will be the Very Rev’d William Morton, Dean of St Patrick’s.