Dean of Belfast passes the half–way mark on his annual sit–out
By lunchtime on Thursday December 18 Dean John Mann was roughly mid–way through this year’s extra–long Black Santa Sit–out at St Anne’s Cathedral.
He pops indoors briefly to deposit yet another bag of cash, or to pen his diary which appears daily in the Belfast Telegraph, and on most days these are Dean Mann’s only break from the Cathedral steps.
He doesn’t like to go inside too often in case he misses people he might know as well people he doesn’t. “I know some people really like to speak to me and I don’t want to miss them or them miss me,” he said.
And so the Dean is averaging six hours a day, always ready with a cheery smile, an outstretched hand and a Christmas greeting to all passers–by.
He is on the steps, dressed in a warm scarf and hat and his black Anglican cloak, from 8.30am each day, and doesn’t finish until well after dark. “It doesn’t really feel like eight hours,” the Dean said. “I am always in good company and we chat all the time to each other and to the people who stop by.”
The Dean is supported by the Cathedral Chapter, the Bishops of Connor and Down and Dromore, with the Cathedral clergy stepping up when there is an empty slot.
The weather has been relatively kind since the Sit–out began on Friday December 12, although by the second Friday temperatures were positively dipping, not helped by a chill wind. The traditional Sit–out was extended this year to coincide with the unveiling of a Blue Plaque to Dean Sammy Crooks.
Wind, rain or cold are no deterrent to Dean Mann and his fellow clergy, or to those who come to donate. On Thursday morning they included one lady who said she made a point of coming down every year. “You do a great job,” she told the Dean.
Another man, loaded down by Christmas shopping, stopped by with a donation, almost dropping his boxes and bags in the process. The driver of a number 238 bus beeped the horn, and the Dean hurried out to receive a donation from the window of the cab, not wanting to hold up the traffic in Donegall Street. Soon after a taxi slowed to a halt, beeping, and again the Dean was delighted to step into the road to accept the donation.
Cars frequently pull up in front of the Cathedral, stopping briefly on the double yellows as someone leaps out to quickly pop in a donation, all of them making a point of driving past the Cathedral just to support Black Santa.
A minibus from Belfast Metropolitan College stops close by and a group of students from the College’s Centre for Supported Learning clamber out and make their way to the barrel. They raised a substantial sum of money by holding a craft and bun sale and a raffle, and split the proceeds between Trocaire and Black Santa. They brought with them a donation of £275 which was gratefully received by the Dean. The group chatted about how they had raised the money, and posed for photographs before returning to their minibus. The effort to both raise the money and to travel down to Donegall Street was appreciated.
On Friday morning the Lord Mayor of Belfast stopped by with a donation. Councillor Nichola Mallon was accompanied by Hannah Gibson, a pupil at Grosvenor Grammar School, who is work shadowing Belfast’s First Citizen for the day. The Lord Mayor spent some time chatting to Dean Mann and the Revd Nigel Kirkpatrick, a Minor Canon of the Cathedral, who was sitting–out with the Dean at the time.
And so the Sit–out continues and will do until darkness falls on Christmas Eve (with the exception of Sunday).