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The artist donates his £25k prize Mercury Prize to independent music venues

Sam Fender accepting his trophy in the North East
Sam Fender won the honor in October in the North East

The star has donated the complete sum of his £25k award winnings to the MVT, which functions to save the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.

Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his new release his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.

He has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages played in his initial steps.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 local spots across the UK.

The money supported venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges stemming from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues received funding support in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.

"The idea that money from performances in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

The band Pulp in concert
Pulp are one of the many acts who gave their award winnings to good causes

The musician is far from the only musician to donate his honor funds to good deeds.

Back when they received the trophy in 1996 for their record the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their cash to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite divided her award among a few good causes, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," the artist told the media.

Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also winners that year M People donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.

"The victory was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success touched another person's life."

In the past week, the MVT shared it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under community ownership.

One venue in Southampton and The Croft in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.

The writer

Teresa Olson

Astrophysicist and educator passionate about making space science accessible to all through engaging content and research.

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