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Wednesday, 19 December, 2001, 16:44 GMT
Black Santa appeal enters new era
Dean McKelvey is appealing to people to be generous
Northern Ireland's traditional charity Christmas sit-out has begun with the familiar Black Santa manning the collection point at Belfast's St Anne's Cathedral.
The week-long charity vigil, which enters its 25th year has raised over £2m since its inception and with a new face under the familiar black clothing this year.
The new Dean of Belfast Houston McKelvey said he does not expect to match his predecessors remarkable feat last year when £400, 000 was raised. The late Dean Jack Shearer collected almost twice the normal total in his 15th and last year of fund raising.
He passed away in January after a short illness and Dean McKelvey said he was not expecting anything like that figure to be matched this year. "We don't have a target," he said. "I think last year was quite different in that it was Dean Shearer's last hurrah and he put quite a bit of effort into it. "We are simply saying this year that if people have it and they feel like being generous we will receive it with that generosity and we will assure them it will get directly to the usual number of good causes." Church leaders from the main denominations also lent their support to the charity drive. The majority of money raised will go to 100 locally-based charities, while all money raised on the final day of the collection is sent to charities dealing with the Third World for the hungry and the homeless." One of the first to contribute to this year's cause were the pupils of Fleming Fulton school in south Belfast who raised over £2,000 for the sit out.
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