In the financial year, SUGARMILL LIVE CIC worked on setting up its basic partnerships, obtaining the necessary funding in order to safeguard The Sugarmill venue, and starting delivery of high-impact youth and creative outreach projects which benefited the local community in accordance with our core value principles. 1. Empowering Local Young Musicians and Youth Engagement --- In June 2025 the CIC managed to secure a working arrangement with the international charity In Place of War, becoming one of the eight designated grassroots music venues in the UK for the EarthSonic Local project and thus linking Stoke-on-Trent's young people and creative community with the wider national initiative. --- Starting in July 2025, the CIC carried out engagement with young people between the ages of 18 and 30 in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area with a view to recruiting local musicians, sound engineers, and creative participants and thus providing opportunities for local involvement. --- In October 2025 we started to deliver four practical and advanced workshops which gave the participants a chance to use professional sound recording equipment, learn sampling techniques and acquire skills in music production. The project enables young people from the area to write and record new music focused on climate action and local biodiversity, thus promoting their creative growth and involvement in the community. 2. Securing the Long-Term Future of The Sugarmill --- Capital and Funding Strategy: During the financial year the directors gave a great deal of attention to obtaining the funding needed for an acquisition so as to ensure that The Sugarmill remains a permanent and sustainable grassroots music venue in Stoke-on-Trent and to keep a community venue for the long-term benefit of the local area. --- After making the first application to Arts Council England, the CIC looked at the feedback and then modified its long-term bid structure so that its future applications would correspond with the major capital or project funding streams, thus improving its capacity to obtain support for the venue in the future. 3. Ecosystem and Sector Engagement --- The CIC has placed Stoke-on-Trent's local music community within a broader national network by forming active partnerships with organisations such as In Place of War and the Music Venue Trust. This network will provide support for youth development, climate awareness and cultural preservation and will extend the opportunities and assistance available to local people in the future.

The main stakeholders of the company are the local emerging and already established musicians, young people between the ages of 18 and 30, the live music audiences in Stoke-on-Trent, and various strategic cultural partners such as In Place of War and the Music Venue Trust. The founders of SUGARMILL LIVE CIC have always been closely associated with the local music scene and have formulated our main aim on the basis of many years' experience in running venues at a grassroots level and in discussing with artists, promoters, and people who attend gigs about the urgent need to safeguard independent cultural spaces. In our first year of operation, our consultations involved getting together with young local musicians at the stage of recruiting for the EarthSonic project in collaboration with In Place of War. We utilised one-on-one talks, completing interest forms and making outreach calls. Through these we obtained direct feedback from the participants about their particular creative requirements. The young artists made it clear that they wanted practical, hands-on production skills and access to professional recording equipment, not just theoretical training. In response to this clear community need, the directors decided that SUGARMILL LIVE CIC will prioritise delivering similar collaborative youth and music outreach programmes in future years. Using the EarthSonic project as a model for future initiatives. Furthermore, through ongoing dialogue with local performers, audience members, and national industry bodies, we confirmed that access to 14+ live shows and affordable stage time remain the biggest barriers for emerging talent in our area. This feedback has directly shaped our long-term operating plan and strengthened our strategy for securing the capital acquisition of The Sugarmill.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration