Manchester’s Gorton Monastery was built between 1866 and 1872 and gave the local Christian community a site for worship until 1989, when it was deconsecrated and fell into dereliction. But when The Big Issue visited last month, it was in pristine condition, its nave filled with the sound of music.
This music didn’t come from organs and choristers, though – it came from a group of people with dementia, and their families and carers, on percussive instruments, accompanied by
