At Manchester’s dementia music cafes, my grandmother comes alive again

'It’s a positive space where I just feel accepted'

Dear readers — We hope you’ve survived Bonfire Night unscathed; things got a little hairy yesterday. We’ve got the news on those incidents in your briefing below, as well as a lovely and very personal story from freelance writer Louisa Eunice. For the past few months, Louisa has been taking her Grandma Betty to weekly music sessions for people living with dementia and their carers, which is part of a new program establishing the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia here in Greater Manchester.

Having watched her beloved grandmother fade away to “near-nothingness” over recent years, Louisa has been thrilled to see bits and pieces of the old Betty come back to life during these joyous and memory-strengthening sessions. Can the program and its measurable impacts on well-being be used to pilot similar efforts around the country?