National Glass Centre is still open. We want to keep it that way.
Tag Archives: Benedict Biscop
After a remarkable council meeting I thought I’d share some highlights. Cross party support for the motion requesting a more robust look at the presented documents from Sunderland University regarding the National Glass Centre and a call for compulsory purchase.
Labour representatives were reading from carefully considered scripts to spin the narrative towards Glassworks Sunderland whilst patronising us by suggesting we are ‘romanticising heritage’.
This is OUR CULTURE. This is our future. That’s why the fight will continue until common sense prevails. As proud working class people we cannot allow this top down dictatorship. We deserve our NATIONAL Glass centre. Not empty promises.
Save the National Glass Centre photograph by Jo Howell
You are invited to…
Sunderland City Council Meeting
At 4.00pm in City Hall, Sunderland on 25th June 2025
To witness the debate deciding if the Council will pass the Motion below and start the process of investigating the actions of the University of Sunderland regarding the decision to close the NGC, thereby ending 1350 years of glassmaking in Sunderland.
The Council Meeting is open for the public to attend, please come and show your support for the Campaign to Save the National Glass Centre.
Or follow the live stream of the Meeting at…
Notice of Motion – Protecting our heritage
This Council regrets the decision taken by the University of Sunderland to close the National Glass Centre in 2026.
Preserving Sunderland’s glassmaking heritage is vital to the city’s cultural offer as well as the Council’s economic growth ambitions.
The University has taken this decision due to what it claims are unaffordable repair costs and sustained operating losses. Council expresses concern regarding the accuracy of the cost estimates so far presented.
Council therefore resolves that the Chief Executive will write to the University’s Vice Chancellor with the following questions:
1. What is the scale of the Centre’s operating loss in the current financial year and the preceding 5 years?
2. Do those losses reflect the cost incurred when structural changes were made to the Centre’s main façade in 3. 4. 2022?
3. How does the University account for the Centre’s income and expenditure?
4. Will the University release all documents relating to its ownership of the Centre and confirm whether that ownership is subject to any restrictions?
The proposal to establish an alternative glassmaking provision in Sunniside in 2027-28, known as Glassworks: Sunderland, fails to address the loss of expertise caused by the Centre’s closure, ignores the economic implications for the surrounding area, and is itself only partially costed.
Council further resolves that the Chief Executive will prepare a detailed report, to be made public within 6 weeks, with the following terms of reference:
Fully explain the proposed ownership structure of Glassworks: Sunderland.
Consider whether the National Glass Centre and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art will continue to exist in any form following the closure of the Centre Building.
Outline the capital and revenue cost of making Glassworks: Sunderland fully operational (i.e. the cost of relocating equipment, refurbishment, fitting out, employing staff) and how this will be funded.
Save the National Glass Centre photograph by Gill Helps
Make some signage or some fashion and pop down to City Hall with us on the 21st May 2025 at 5pm.
Show the love, save the national glass centre promoted by Sunderland Conservatives
What’s the crack?
We want you to come and show support for the National Glass Centre.
Make some signage or some fashion and pop down to City Hall with us on the 21st May 2025 at 5pm.
We want to save the building et al because it was purpose built for our glassmaking heritage as a regeneration project for the City.
We believe demolition is needlessly destructive and will have adverse effects on our delicate marine and coastal environment.
The most sustainable building is the one that already exists.
Add to this that National Glass Centre is situated in St Peter’s because glassmaking was known to have been brought to Sunderland and taught to others in 674ad.
That’s 1351 years of glass!
We want to save the National Glass Centre because it has inspired working class people to enjoy art and heritage. It brings 230,000 people a year and we believe it could command even more.
The National glass centre building is an iconic emblem on the riverside. A cathedral of glass. Its cultural wealth and impact upon the surrounding area should not be underestimated.
The prestige of the highly skilled glassmakers has made our city known across the world. It symbolises our rich creative past and could be a flagship of new science or technologies of the future.
This National Glass Centre of ours is uniquely Sunderland. Anywhere can make music. Obviously we’re glad that we make music too but we are about to concede to the destruction of our only internationally facing unique selling point.
Katy Wheeler has put it excellently in the Sunderland Echo read it here:
Meet us at 5pm on May 21st at City Hall in Sunderland. Bring signs!
We need you beautiful people with some hand painted signs to have a visible outpouring of public love for the National Glass Centre.
It won’t be long until the shutdown of the National glass centre begins in earnest. We are running out of time to press this issue with MPs, councillors and everyone who has sway in this City.
The National Glass Centre has over £30 million of taxpayers money invested in it over the years. This is our investment. Our National centre with global appeal.
If you can’t come in person then take your opinions and crowbar them in on every comments section of every post of the Uni and the council. Point out hypocrisies publicly.
And of course share all of our posts!
See you at 5pm on May 21st at City Hall! Bring posters, signs and righteous indignation.
After another shock announcement that the National Glass Centre will close on Sundays from March 16th Save the National Glass Centre Campaign calls for more boots on the ground.
Sign up for updates on how to help the campaign by emailing savethengc@gmail.com with Newsletter in the subject line.
Yet again the offer for locals and visitors is weakening with the University of Sunderland deciding that working families will only be able to enjoy a visit to the “world-class” cultural venue on one day of a usual working week – Saturdays.
Campaigners believe that the university should not have the sole responsibility for deciding the much-loved attraction’s future. They are questioning why Sunderland’s second most popular visitor attraction, after the Stadium of Light, (Tripadvisor) will be closing on Sundays, the second most popular day for visitors (according to Google).
Tenants have been told by email that,
“The decision has been taken by the University of Sunderland to balance the needs of students, staff and visitors to the NGC, with the University’s efforts to ensure the NGC runs as sustainably as possible until the planned closure of the building in July 2026.”
The NGC used to host about 230,000 visitors in a usual year according to Sunderland Culture. People north of the river are worried about what will happen to local businesses such as B&Bs, shops, cafes and pubs if the NGC closes in summer 2026.
A substantial amount of money will need to be raised, and work has barely started on developing a robust business model for the self-sustaining glass making hub. The predicted footfall of 50,000 visitors at Glassworks will make it much harder to afford to employ 16 “creative roles”.
1700 schoolchildren used to visit the NGC annually to learn about the unique heritage of Sunderland and experience the thrill of glassmaking, yet there is no mention of children in the new plan.
If the plan for Glassworks fails to overcome all the challenges, we could be left with nothing!
Campaigners now know through Freedom of Information requests that the university has written off the value of the NGC and NGCA in its accounts, previously the “net book value” was £10.6million (FOI2425/10/16), assets created for the community using a huge amount of public money.
The Chair of the Board of Governors has written that “the land is not of significant value and even that would be largely offset by the cost of removing the building and any potential landscaping” (11.04.24).
The university’s own documents show that the NGC building has not been well maintained, leading to a backlog of repairs. The documents also show that there is a workable solution with build costs of around £6.6million.
Considering all this, campaigners are appealing directly to the university to allow Sunderland City Council to step in and take back full control and return the centre to what it was, a “world-class cultural asset” for the public to enjoy.
In the summer of 2026, the last university students will leave the building. This leaves plenty of space for the important heritage of glassmaking to continue whilst developing an even more enhanced offer for visitors, artists and our future generations by celebrating the religious, industrial and maritime heritage aspects of Sunderland’s proud history.
There are several organisations in Sunderland that could be drawn together under one roof. Never forget that Sunderland was the largest shipbuilding town in the world, that there is a little bit of Sunderland in millions of cupboards around the world in the form of Pyrex dishes, or the memory of Venerable Bede and his creation of the idea of the English as a people. Why can’t our city’s proud heritage be celebrated more?
Whilst The National Glass Centre will probably never beat The Stadium of Light and become the most popular visitor attraction in Sunderland it certainly could continue to enjoy its current second place!
Remember to email us! We are planning something and we need you all to be part of it!
On behalf of our campaign group, “Save the National Glass Centre”, we extend our warmest congratulations on your recent appointment as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. We were heartened to hear your speech at the Royal Television Society recognising the importance of the creative industries outside of London and noting that Jonathan Reynolds, no stranger to Sunderland, is putting the creative industries at the centre of your industrial strategy. As you said, “Talent is everywhere but jobs are not”. It was kind of you to mention the beauty of Sunderland in relation to the filmmaking industry, and the same can certainly be said of Sunderland’s longstanding glass making industry.
As publicly speaking out is “critical to a healthy, functioning democracy” we, the people, are appealing to you directly in an open letter…
Save the National Glass Centre
Stop the University from breaking the glass heart of Sunderland
Immediate action is required to prevent the loss of Sunderland’s much loved “world-class cultural asset”.
Our calls for action are,
An immediate stop is put to the University of Sunderland’s closure, demolition and relocation plans for the National Glass Centre (NGC).
An independent review into the situation is commissioned to establish the facts and consider alternatives other than demolition and the destruction of our internationally renowned, unique cultural asset.
That the people who care for, use, value, cherish and, let’s face it, have collectively paid for the NGC are central to the decision-making process.
That our campaign group are given the opportunity to present our evidence-based solutions which can ensure a sustainable future for our NGC, for our glassmaking cultural heritage and, most importantly, for our future generations.
Although the NGC is currently under the ownership of the university it was conceived as a public asset central to the regeneration of that area of Sunderland. It was paid for and supported by several organisations but principally British and European taxpayers. The university assumed full ownership through the collaboration of Arts Council England (ACE) and Sunderland Council.
The university has shown “violent indifference” to our exceptional cultural and educational venue and has decided to demolish the NGC thereby ending 1350 years of glassmaking in Sunderland. The decision was taken using biased, partial evidence. There was no public consultation, no reference to the fate of the complex cultural ecosystem surrounding the NGC and no consideration of the economic damage caused by the loss of the approximately 230000 visitors the NGC used to host annually (source: Sunderland Culture). Since the shock announcement 18 months ago, there is still no coherent plan to save and relocate the many and varied creative activities housed within the building, including the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art. Millions of pounds of embodied public funds will disappear if the university is successful in its development plans.
Save the National Glass Centre
We are a group of local and nationally based people with a wide variety of experiences and professional qualifications. Collectively, we believe that the NGC can survive and thrive if the community, politicians, other interested organisations and the university work together in a spirit of positive engagement to create an ambitious, sustainable future. We are determined to challenge the averted gaze and lack of curiosity that has characterised the response of the public office holders accountable and answerable for this matter. As of this date, our elected representatives, Councillors and Members of Parliament, have been unsuccessful in holding the university to account so we are appealing to you directly as a group with the backing of over 35700 petitioners from 72 countries.
As a campaign group we have assembled a comprehensive evidence base containing many deeply troubling facts and unanswered questions, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this situation with you.
Your predecessors at the DCMS have been made aware of this matter, following enquiries from HRH King Charles and local politicians. In October 2023 Lord Parkinson wrote,
“…this is very much a live issue so we do not believe launching an inquiry would be productive at this stage.”
Do we have to wait until after the destruction of the National Glass Centre before this scandal is examined?
We await your response with anticipation,
Yours sincerely,
Signed on behalf of the Campaign to Save the National Glass Centre.
2024 has arrived and we need committed people to help!
By Jo Howell
Save the National Glass Centre Campaign
As a campaign that is run entirely by volunteers from the community, and in fact from further afield, we have achieved a lot in a year.
The public meeting way back in June 2023, was well attended, and we have had a regular core group of 5 who have attended meetings on zoom and in person, and a regular in-person group of between 8 and 12.
Everyone has come to the campaign with various different backgrounds, talents, and strengths.
We are looking for some extra people to commit to our monthly zoom meetings.
We need some help digitally to ease the workload for those who have already given so much.
Do you want to help Save the National Glass Centre? Can you commit to regular attendance, and a voluntary workload?
We need the following skills:
Social media marketing – regular updates across all platforms twice weekly
Proficiency with google drive, google docs, spreadsheets, digital literacy.
Minutes and record keeping – weekly online and in-person once a month. Including meeting agendas, invites, and meeting reports.
Organisation – updating the team, events, excellent filing skills, coordination of different tasks across the team.
Data management – properly filed, and stored with data protection regulations met.
Research – archive, public data, personal stories, heritage, social equity, local economy, wider cultural landscape.
Letter writing – MPs, newspapers, governors, funders, heritage bodies, etc
Emailing newsletters – monthly newsletters with up to date info, fresh photographs, exciting and inviting, easy to read.
Blog and website management
YouTube and moving image content creators
Also in the coming months we are going to need:
Fundraisers, accountants, finance officers, policy writers and similar.
Please email Jo Howell with details of which area you can commit to help with.
You will need to have availability to attend for 1 hour Zoom meetings currently every Friday evening at 6pm, and in-person meetings are the 3rd Thursday of every month, 6pm at the Queen Vic Hotel in Roker, Sunderland.
We do have some excellent writers, photographers, industry professionals, and glass artists on board.
The second year of our campaign is going to have to raise the bar, and we need you to help.
Email: savethengc@gmail.com Include which area you are interested in helping us with, and a short paragraph about your experience.
Read through our website and blog, and share this with anyone you think could be a good fit for the campaign.
Thank you!
All the best
Jo Howell
And everyone working in the Save the National Glass Centre Campaign
Professional children’s, and mental health writer, gives us a brief history of glass, and its legacy in Sunderland.
This is the story of how a wealthy nobleman, a lord in the court of a Northumbrian King, became a man of religion, innovation and patron of the arts, bringing glassmaking to Wearside.
I am talking of course about Biscop Baducing, who lived in the North East of England in the 7th century, and first started his career at the court of King Oswiu of Northumbria. Biscopwas such a brave and dedicated member of court that, on his decision to devote his life to religious study, he was gifted 70 hides of land, by Ecgfrith, who had succeeded Oswiu, on which the monastery of St Peter, Wearmouth was built, with its associated church. The church was consecrated in 675AD and Biscop, who now adopted the name, Benedict, became its first abbot, leaving his old life, and indeed his marriage, behind.
The church and monastery at Wearmouth were unusual for the time, built, as they were, of stone. Most buildings in the North East, at that time, were of wooden construction; but this was not enough for the well-travelled Biscop.
St Peter’s church and monk, illustrated by Jo Howell
Being a physically fit, as well as devout man, Biscop made the pilgrimage to Rome, on foot, five times in his life. He also visited Gaul, now modern day France. It is said that he marvelled at the stained-glass windows in the European churches he saw on his travels and loved fine art. He must also have been quite persuasive, as, on each journey, he not only brought back books, icons and relics, but also stonemasons and glassmakers from the balmy Mediterranean climate, to the windswept coast of North East England.
It was during one such trip in 675 AD that Biscop crossed paths with a gifted French glassmaker, and persuaded him to come to Britain and pass on the rare knowledge of glassmaking. He brought back a shipment of key raw materials – quality beach sand, essential salts and mineral soda ash. Now glassmaking could start in earnest. This was not only for making beautiful items for the church; this was the start of a glassmaking legacy on the Wear, that would continue for more than 1300 years.
The glassmaker showed the monks how to use beach pebbles to raise the temperature high enough to fuel the newly-built furnaces. A ‘secret ingredient’, Gaulish dust, was used to diffuse the bright coloured glass. Soon, not only windows, but tableware, vases, flasks and tiles were being produced in Wearmouth, whilst training local monks in these skills.Previously, glass goods would have had to be transported to England carefully by ship – a very delicate process. Now glass could be made on the banks of the Wear – and in colour too! It must have been awe-inspiring for the small population who lived near the monastery, to see this innovation of stone and glass take shape.
By the time of Biscop’s death in 689 AD, glassmaking was firmly established on Wearside and the practice had spread to St Peter’s sister monastery at Jarrow. This small town, which eventually became the City of Sunderland, had started a revolution in glass. Over the following centuries, Sunderland became famed for its wares, from bottles to high class dinner services; with many factories setting up home here, during the industrial revolution, such as world-renowned glassmakers,Hartley-Woods, and, later, the famous Pyrex ware wasmanufactured here, by James Jobling, from the early 20thcentury.
St Peter’s Church on Instax wide, photograph by Jo Howell
It seemed natural, therefore, for Sunderland to house the National Glass Centre (NGC), which was opened by Prince, now King, Charles, in 1998, and is a popular, free to access, tourist attraction. Currently a home for independent glass artists, the NGC is both a working glassmaking centre, and the provider of a wider exhibition space. Visitors have the opportunity to see traditional glassblowing, or to take part in workshops to create their own glass objects, at a reasonable cost. These courses are always in high demand.
Sadly, the building, which is now owned by the University of Sunderland, is under threat of fairly imminent closure. If this venue disappears, the mighty fire of the furnaces, first ignited by Biscop, 1300 years ago, will be extinguished on Wearside, possibly forever. A campaign group has been set up with the intention of preserving this Centre and support is gathering momentum.
If you would like to read more about the NGC and how supporters are campaigning to save the venue, please sign the petition! And if you would like to get involved with the campaign email us at:
Save the National Glass Centre 