Sunderland’s Sacred Glass

Claire McCollum is in Sunderland, a city whose Christian links to the glassmaking industry stretch back over 1,300 years. She discovers the story of St Benedict Biscop, a 7th-century monk who founded the monastery of St Peter’s and introduced the tradition of stained-glass windows to the UK. We also hear from the chaplain of Sunderland University about why stained-glass windows are such an important part of our Christian heritage, and Claire gets hands on with some glass blowing.

To mark International Women’s Day, Pam Rhodes learns about a project that shines a light on inspirational women from Sunderland’s past and present.

And we meet a Sunderland University student, originally from Ghana, to hear why the city was the perfect place to continue his studies and how faith guides his work with glass.