Sam Fender gives twenty-five thousand pounds Mercury Prize to grassroots concert halls

The artist has donated the full amount of his £25,000 honor prize money to the MVT, which functions to save the UK's small live music spots.

Fender was presented with the cheque on October 16 as his third album his work was named the best record of the last 12 months.

Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the total UK scene.

In the last year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also took part, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to help 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The donation supported spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues received monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.

"The idea that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.

Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to worthy causes.

Back when the band received the trophy in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the act would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.

That year, rapper and singer she divided her prize between multiple organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also donated a grand to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," she shared with the media.

Two years ago, they contributed their prize money to the local youth club that developed their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Also winners that year the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated singer the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had saved several local spots in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The Joiners in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by a national body and music fans who buy "shares" in the properties.