The musician gives twenty-five thousand pounds Mercury Prize to independent music venues
The artist has handed over the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.
Fender was presented with the prize on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous small stages across the UK.
The money helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving facilities and gear that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
The musician is among several artists to donate his award winnings to worthy causes.
In the band received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release their work, vocalist the singer announced that the act would give their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
That year, rapper and singer the artist divided her bounty among multiple good causes, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients M People contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"The victory was ample," stated artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued two local spots in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in Southampton and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the properties.