Staff and students at Furness College were entertained by the highly enthusiastic and engaging Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

The visit coincided with the ‘Believe in Barrow’ campaign which is a five day celebration of faith in Barrow in Furness.

After a brief coffee break Dr Sentamu was whisked off to the CandoFM radio station to be interviewed by Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Media students Lawrence Fitzsimmons, 18 from Barrow and Thomas Graham, 20 from Barrow. After being welcomed in his mother tongue of Swahili by the students Dr Sentamu gave some thought provoking answers to a series of questions asked by the students about Barrow and the his life as an Archbishop. At the end of the interview the students provided an unusual finale by asking Dr Sentamu to take his place on a set of professional conga drums to demonstrate his percussion talents. Those gathered in the studio were incredibly impressed.

The students said of their meeting with Dr Sentamu; “He was a really great person to interview – so natural and very enthusiastic. We like the fact he was so open and honest with his answers. The best bit has to be his superb playing of the conga drums we’d had especially set up in the CandoFM studio for him. We asked him to accompany 5 different pieces of music and he was BRILLIANT!”

After the interview there was no let up as the Archbishop of York was then taken to Craft Engineering where he was welcomed by Level 2 full-time Engineering students Poppy Alderton, 19 from Askam and Shannon Leith, 19 from Barrow who have recently been accepted as BAE apprentices from the April intake. The students gave a challenge to Dr Sentamu to achieve a respectable score on the college’s virtual welding machine. Once they’d given their brief introduction Dr Sentamu was keen to get going on the machine and came away with a great score of 58% much to the delight of the engineering students.

Of the Archbishop of York, Poppy said, “I was really nervous at first to be meeting him, but he came across as a really nice guy. He did a great job on the challenge and would make a great welder!”

The hectic morning finished with a relaxing lunch where Dr Sentamu was joined by Furness College Student Reps.

Of the visit Dr Sentamu said of Furness College, “Being interviewed by the students in CandoFm sent a really powerful message – that ‘can do’ spirit. This should permeate into every part of Barrow.” Of the college itself he said, “The facilities at the college and the views are exceptional and so is the outstanding Ofsted grade in Engineering.”

Principal & Chief Executive, Anne Attwood said, “It was a great privilege to entertain, or should I say be entertained, by the Archbishop of York. We thoroughly enjoyed his company and staff and students were amazed that he could turn his hand to anything from playing the congas to welding. He is an inspiration to all of us.”