News

UK’s first music therapy project for dementia patients to roll out across Greater Manchester

It'll be life-changing for thousands of people in our region.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 9th May 2024

A UK-first £1 million music therapy project is being rolled out to provide a “lifeline” for people with dementia in our region.

Thanks to generous funding from a number of regional and national sources, Greater Manchester is to become the first ‘Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia’ in the UK, and it’ll be hosted by Manchester Camerata with support from the University of Manchester (UoM) and the Alzheimer’s Society.

More than £1 million of funding has been committed by Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, Sir Richard Lees, who is now the Chair of the NHS Greater Manchester, and the National Academy for Social Prescribing’s ‘Power of Music Fund’.

Due to be rolled-out from October 2024, the funding will support three years of direct musical support activities across all of the region’s 10 boroughs.

For the three-year project, Manchester Camerata will work in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society and UoM to offer “research-backed” music cafes, for both its ‘Music in Mind’ programme and the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Singing for the Brain’ scheme.

It’s hoped this will “help take pressure off frontline health and care staff” in the NHS.

Manchester Camerata’s internationally-renowned ‘Music in Mind’ programme – created in collaboration with UoM – uses the principles of music therapy to improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia, and was devised from the foundations of some of the world’s leading dementia experts and their research. 

The Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Singing for the Brain’ programme is based on key music therapy principles, and has already been massively successful in bringing people living with dementia together to sing a variety of songs they know and love in a fun and friendly environment – with sessions also including vocal exercises that help improve brain activity and wellbeing.

The UK’s first music therapy project for dementia patients is being rolled out across Greater Manchester / Credit: Manchester Camerata

The sessions also create an opportunity for people living with dementia and their carers to socialise with others, and experience peer support too.

Manchester Camerata and the Alzheimer’s Society will recruit a workforce of 300 volunteers over the next three years and train them to deliver the ‘Music Cafes’, which will help support thousands of people living with dementia in Greater Manchester.

In addition to the Centre of Excellence in Greater Manchester, the National Academy for Social Prescribing’s ‘Power of Music Fund’ is also awarding small grants to 70 grassroots music and dementia projects across the UK, and this will support more than 5,500 people in total.

Mayor Andy Burnham called said the project is “fantastic news for Greater Manchester”, and called it a “reminder of the power of music to shape our lives and our communities”.

He continued: “Manchester Camerata have played a key role in our Music Commission, and I’ve seen first-hand the transformational impact of what they do in our city region, so they are the ideal partner to pioneer the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia and work with the Alzheimer’s Society to unlock the potential of music as therapy.

“This project will provide life-changing support to people with dementia and their carers in our 10 boroughs.

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“It will also generate groundbreaking research that will influence health and care policy across the country while directly improving lives across Greater Manchester”.

Featured Image – Manchester Camerata

News

There’s a World Gravy Wrestling Championship near Greater Manchester

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia World Gravy Wrestling Championships Greater Manchester

Just on the outskirts of Greater Manchester, there’s a country pub set in a rural village that hosts a world gravy wrestling championship.

Leave it to us northerners to organise a world gravy wrestling championship because let’s face it, there’s nothing more northern than plummeting yourself into bucket loads of gravy.

It’s a well-known fact that we Brits, especially northerners, love a good splash of gravy with our meals – so much so, in fact, that according to one study, we drench meals in gravy three times a week.

At The Rose ‘N’ Bowl in the village of Stacksteads, it’s not just their meals they’re drenching in the brown nectar; they drench any willing guest in this beige saucy goodness too as part of the World Gravy Wrestling Championships.

Here’s a little taster from nearly a decade ago.

Participants are expected to wrestle in the gravy for two minutes, with the winner being judged not only on their play-fighting skills but also on their choice of fancy dress, comedy effect and entertainment.

Past wrestlers have rocked up as zebras, racehorse jockeys and famous TV characters like Ali G and Mickey Mouse.

Each wrestler is encouraged to raise money on behalf of a charity of their choice, but if you don’t have one, donations will be sent to East Lancashire Hospice, which has helped people countywide suffering from life-limiting illness for the past 30 years.

The World Gravy Wrestling Championships have been held outside this very pub for over a decade, with the first ever event taking place at a car park in Wigan before it found a permanent home outside The Rose ‘N’ Bowl.

And if swimming in a pool of gravy isn’t for you, don’t fret because there’s a handful of sauce-free activities you can get involved with spread throughout the pub’s car park.

Fret not, past events have included bouncy castles, cheerleading performances, craft beer stalls, cake and tombola stands and even a BB gun shooting range that are all completely gravy-free.

There will even be help from a local fire brigade who will be on hand to wash down wrestlers in between their gravy-filled tournament, so they can wander round all the stalls too.

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The 2025 World Gravy Wrestling Championships are coming to The Rose ‘N’ Bowl in Stacksteads on 25 August, with tickets available in person only, but plenty of information about the event HERE.

If you’re after signing up to be one of the wrestlers at this event, applications are still open and you can get stuck in with all the details you need HERE.

And if that wasn’t enough Northern food competitive action, we’ll catch you at the World Black Pudding Hurling Championships, innabit.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – Caravanum (via Flickr)

News

Inside this Victorian mansion with 10 bedrooms, a swimming pool and more near Greater Manchester

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

There’s a million-pound Victorian-style mansion that has 10 bedrooms and its own personal swimming pool just outside of Greater Manchester.

Just like the childhood nursery rhyme, “There were three in the bed and the little one said… there’s another seven beds, roll over!” or at least that’s how they remember it in this character property.

Located in Warrington, less than an hour away from Manchester city centre, this property is a semi-detached Victorian property built in 1860, with 10 bedrooms and its own private swimming pool, all spread across four floors.

As soon as you enter the foyer, your eyes are drawn to the sleek silver chandelier before you notice the grand staircase, which feels like a piece of living history.

Inside this Victorian mansion with 10 bedrooms and a swimming pool near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market
Inside this Victorian mansion with 10 bedrooms and a swimming pool near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market
Inside this Victorian mansion with 10 bedrooms and a swimming pool near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market)

The ground floor hosts two of a whopping 10 bedrooms alongside a teal-toned farmhouse-style kitchen and that extremely impressive swimming pool with its own built-in projector.

In the kitchen, the focal point is the large wrap-around kitchen unit, which is accompanied by a variety of hanging lights and a big central island.

On the way to the swimming pool, there are a handful of lockers identical to those found in a leisure and as you enter the room, your eyes are drawn to the island-inspired feature wall.

Venture upstairs to the first floor and you’re greeted by five spacious bedrooms with one having its own en-suite while the rest share a main bathroom.

Each of these bedrooms follows a completely different design style, with the largest following a muted grey palette with pops of yellow thanks to the artwork and bed accessories.

The grand staircase and one of ten bedrooms inside this Victorian mansion near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market
The grand staircase and one of ten bedrooms inside this Victorian mansion near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market
The grand staircase and one of ten bedrooms inside this Victorian mansion near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market

As you go upstairs again, you’ll find (you guessed it) even more bedrooms, three to be exact, with the standout

The stand-out of this second floor is the navy-walled bedroom with a vintage vanity unit, patterned floor-to-ceiling curtains and a similarly dark-blue rug to match its four walls.

Another flight of stairs and you’ve finally reached the top of this property, and there’s an LED-lined ceiling and a neutral bedroom colour scheme of greys, whites and everything in between.

There are various amenities nearby, including three schools and three train stations… for if you get fed up of strolling around your four-floored ten-bed, swimming pool-owning mansion.

Two contrasting bedrooms found within this Victorian mansion near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market
Two contrasting bedrooms found within this Victorian mansion near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market
Two contrasting bedrooms found within this Victorian mansion near Greater Manchester / Credit: On The Market

We know this property may not be in the price range and might not be affordable for a lot of readers, ourselves included, but we can dream, right?

You can check out this Victorian mansion and flick through even more pictures of this property – Snooping never hurt anybody? Official site HERE.

As always, make sure to check out The Manc‘s property page to check all the other stunning structures currently on sale/in progress across Greater Manchester and in the nearby North West.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – Supplied via On The Market

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