18.03.2025
Black Santa Funds Help Heat Homes and Put Food on Tables – Dublin Charities Thank St Ann’s
Representatives of more than a dozen charities joined parishioners of St Ann’s Dawson Street on Sunday morning (March 16) for the distribution of the proceeds of the 2024 Black Santa Appeal.
A total of €66,000 was collected by clergy and laity during the annual Black Santa sit out outside St Ann’s Church during the days before Christmas. Every cent donated was distributed to the charities. Beneficiaries this year were: Protestant Aid, Brabazon Trust, Alice Leahy Trust, Laura Lynn Foundation, Solas Project, Samaritans, Salvation Army, Simon Community, Barnardos, St Vincent de Paul, Capuchin Day Centre, St John’s House and Focus Ireland.
The service was taken by the Ven Gordon Linney, former Archdeacon of Dublin, who also gave the sermon. He highlighted the ethos of service which prevails at St Ann’s as exemplified by the Black Santa Appeal over the last two decades. But the spirit of service dates back to the 18th century. The Bread Shelf was established in 1723 as a result of a bequest by Lord Newton of Newtown Butler to make bread available to those in need of it. He recalled as a choir boy after the Second World War witnessing a woman dressed in black regularly coming into the church to take down some bread from the shelf.
What is spoken and believed in St Ann’s must be taken beyond the church congregation, he stated. He highlighted those who had attended the church who had gone on to do good works such as Thomas Barnardo who was inspired to service in St Ann’s but whose work had an impact on children far and wide.
Addressing the representatives of the charities present he said: “Your organisations go out and pick up the fallen, the homeless, the poor. You pick them up and give them an understanding of their value as children of God. You will say that not everyone who works for a charity believes in God but in their lives the light of God is reflected. What you do is consistent with the love and teaching of Christ”.
Archdeacon Linney said there were many people deeply troubled by what is going on in the world at the moment. However, he believed that on statistical analysis one would find that the good people would outweigh the bad. “The bad people get the headlines but around the world there are people carrying out kind acts and reflecting a God who loves, cares and looks after us,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the charities who benefited from Black Santa, Geoff Scargill of Protestant Aid thanked St Ann’s for the magnificent effort. He said there were lots of unsung heroes involved in the sit out, in particular Fred Deane who had been a great servant of the appeal. “What happens every year is that this tremendous effort has heated homes, it has put food on tables, it has been an incredible Christian witness and has made a real difference to people’s lives. So thank you to St Ann’s from the charities but also from the people whose homes were warmed, where food was put on the table and where they had a sense of Christian care and compassion,” he stated.
