Northern Lights Project Ltd Company limited by guarantee
Directors’ report for the year ended 31 May 2025
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 May 2025.
Principal activity
The principal activity of the charitable company include the promotion and development of cohesive and confident communities in Northern Ireland as well as empowered and creatively engaged individuals. Directors
The directors who served during the year are as stated below:
Brian Stafford
Leanne Peacocke
Purpose and aims
Northern Lights Project is a Derry-based music organisation and charity. It was founded in 2016 with the purpose of creating, producing and promoting cutting-edge new music and adventurous interdisciplinary arts events. The organisation develops innovative approaches to presentation with performances, workshops, and concerts in a range of public arenas.
Its main aims are to:
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Create, produce and promote new and innovative new music/sound-based and multi-media events;
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Promotes and present performances, concerts and other events;
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Use music as a tool for community engagement and development;
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Encourage and facilitate participation, particularly by young people, in music and the arts;
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Develop partnerships that cross boundaries between music, the arts and beyond.
Activities
In July 2024, we delivered the second RAMP Festival of Experimental and Contemporary Music in Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, further establishing the festival as a key platform for innovative musical practice in — the region.
In September, we presented a concert tour across north-west Ireland, featuring a program of newly commissioned music for instruments and electronics, including works by composers from the Derry-Donegal-Sligo region. This project was supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media through the Co-operation with Northern Ireland Scheme, with additional assistance from the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, and the Spilt Milk Festivai. In October, we brought Gaireacht to the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, presenting four newly commissioned works for our 8-channel loudspeaker array by Brona Martin, Ailis Ni Riain, Linda O'Keeffe, and Amble Skuse. Each piece explored ideas of nearness, intimacy, and proximity in relation to technological transformation, responding to the theme of Gaireacht (Irish for "closeness").
In April 2025, we curated and produced the inaugural Signal Flow Festival of Electronic Music at the Playhouse in Derry, delivering six concerts across three venues and showcasing a diverse range of contemporary electronic music practices.
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Northern Lights Project Ltd Company limited by guarantee
Directors’ report
for the year ended 31 May 2025
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Beneficiaries
Education and Outreach
Education and outreach remain central to our program. Most of our concerts and events incorporate participatory elements, creating meaningful opportunities for a wide range of groups to engage directly in creative music-making. These activities have particularly benefited school children and young people, offering them hands-on experiences with contemporary and experimental music practices, fostering creativity, confidence, and critical listening skills.
Artists and Creative Development
Our concert series provides a vital platform for composers, performers, and sound artists to develop, test, and refine new work. By supporting experimentation and risk-taking, we enable artists to explore new ideas, advance existing projects, and present ambitious, high-quality work to engaged audiences. This process is essential to the development of innovative contemporary music and sound art, and contributes directly to artistic growth, professional development, and sector sustainability.
Audiences and Sector Development
We curate a deliberately diverse program of music and sound-based events, each with a distinct artistic identity and designed to appeal to different audience segments. This approach attracts a broad and overlapping audience base, encompassing interests in contemporary art, improvisation, new music, and electronic music.
While contemporary music is more established in Belfast, we actively develop connections between Derry and Belfast to strengthen the regional ecology. These links broaden audiences, increase performance opportunities for artists, and contribute to the long-term growth and resilience of the contemporary music sector. By cultivating a small but curious and committed audience, we support cultural vibrancy and expand access to high-quality, innovative artistic experiences in the north-west region.
Plans for the future
In late 2025 and early 2026, we will present a new series of concerts across Derry and Belfast, featuring Northern Irish and international artists working across improvised music, sound art, live art, and electronic music, Artists are selected for their distinctive aesthetic voices, technical excellence, and the originality of their work. Each concert prioritizes experimentation, risk, and imaginative practice, offering audiences inspiring experiences that would not otherwise be available locally.
The growing success of our events demonstrates strong public interest in experimental music in Northern Ireland, particularly in the north-west region. Over time, we are cultivating a dedicated and engaged audience, while providing critical professional development opportunities for artists at local, regional, and national levels.
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Northern Lights Project Ltd Company limited by guarantee
Directors’ report for the year ended 31 May 2025
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Looking ahead, we have applied for substantial project funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to sustain and expand our programming. This support will enable us to continue presenting ambitious music projects, broaden audience reach, and strengthen the ecosystem for experimental and contemporary music across the region. By investing in innovative artistic practice and audience development, we aim to reinforce the cultural profile of Derry as a hub for experimental music and sound art.
Directors responsibilities
The directors of Northern Lights Project Ltd for the purposes of company law are responsible for preparing the Directors’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
~ select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the directors are aware:
- there is no relevant information of which the charitable company's independent examiner is unaware; and - the directors have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the independent examiner is aware of that information.
This report is prepared in accordance with the special provisions of part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
This report was approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 24 February 2026 and signed on its behalf by
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Direct Director
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