His cloak is gloomy black, not festive red. He wears a balaclava instead of a fur-trimmed hat. A Belfast institution, the Black Santa has been spotted each Christmas outside St Anne's Cathedral where he jingles, not bells, but a barrel full of money collected from passers-by.
"Unlike the real Santa, I don't give anything away to visitors," smiles Dean Jack Shearer, who will hang up his barrel after 15 years of his annual sit-out on the steps of the city cathedral. The money he collects - almost £2 million since the tradition was first begun by Dean Sam Crooks in 1976 - goes to 100 different local charities. This year Dean Shearer hopes to raise £250,000 over the six days of the sit-out.
Belfast families flock to the steps of the cathedral with the same enthusiasm they bring to the snow-covered grotto in nearby Castlecourt Shopping Centre. Locals coined the Black Santa nickname back in the early days of Dean Crooks's collection. It has become a useful marketing tool for the novel fundraising campaign. "It's definitely a Christmas tradition, I meet the same people every year," says Dean Shearer who, whatever the weather, will be at his post from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
"You wear lots of layers, a few pairs of fishermen's socks, long johns and the great cloak that we usually wear to funerals," he says. On busy days the barrel, made especially for Dean Crooks in the mid-1970s, by whiskey-makers Bushmills, is emptied every 15 minutes.
Dean Shearer has already raised £40,000 for this year's collection as a result of a Black Santa information leaflet posted to Belfast homes. "We hadn't done that before and the cynics said the junk mail method wouldn't work but we have proved them wrong," he says. There is a strict policy that all of the money collected will be paid out to the charities in January without any deductions. The mail campaign cost £12,000, but the funds were provided by the board of the cathedral.
Over the years, Dean Shearer has been amazed by people's generosity. In 1993, a man left a plastic shopping bag outside the cathedral. "Later we opened it up and were stunned to discover that the bag contained £30,000 in notes," he says. A man had died and left written instructions that his friend should pass on the cash to Black Santa. "He had an honest friend," says Dean Shearer.
He talks about an elderly lady who gives £1,000 each year and an Indian man who comes to make a donation each day of the sit-out, which begins on Monday. "He gives double on the last day which is the collection for Christian Aid," he says. "Among the charities who benefit are high profile organisations such as the Vincent de Paul and the Simon Community, but many smaller ones such as St Paul's School for Travelling Children and the NI Lupus group will be receiving much needed funds."
Dean Shearer, an energetic cleric who turns 74 on December 30th, will retire to St Andrew's in Scotland next May and a new Dean will be elected. "Being Black Santa is part of the job specification," says Shearer. "So whoever is elected has to be prepared to take part in the tradition."
This year's sit-out begins on Monday at 10.30 a.m. and runs until December 23rd. For further information call Dean Jack Shearer on 048-90328332. Cheques should be made out to Sit-out For Charities and sent to The Dean, Belfast Cathedral, Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2HB
