The artist donates £25,000 award winnings to independent concert halls

The artist receiving his trophy in the North East
He was awarded the honor recently in Newcastle

The star has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.

Fender was presented with the award on 16 October as his latest record the album was chosen as the best record of the past year.

Fender has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the area, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

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

Over the past year, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.

These funds assisted locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues caused by flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Other venues were granted financial assistance in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that helped artists and audiences.

"The notion that revenue from performances in large arenas backs the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.

The band Pulp on stage
They are one of the many acts who donated their honor winnings to good causes

The musician is not the first artist to contribute his honor prize money to good deeds.

When Pulp won the award in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the act would give their winnings to the organization War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer the artist divided her award between a few good causes, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.

Previously, they contributed their prize money to the community center that developed their act, as well as other local music groups.

Additionally 1994 winners the group gave their award to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the condition.

"Winning was sufficient," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning touched somebody else's life."

In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued several local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the properties.

Brenda Steele
Brenda Steele

A seasoned IT consultant with over a decade of experience in cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity.