🔗 Share this article

Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.

Fender was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album his work was declared the top album of the previous year.

He has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his beginning days.

"I couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.

He also joined in, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to support numerous small stages across the UK.

The donation assisted venues that were confronting possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.

Some locations obtained monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The idea that money from performances in big venues helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.

The musician is among several artists to donate his award winnings to good deeds.

When Pulp received the prize in 1996 for their record their work, vocalist Cocker announced that the group would contribute their cash to the charity War Child.

In 2002, rapper and singer she split her bounty between a few good causes, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," she shared with a publication.

Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

Also 1994 winners they contributed their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the disease.

"Winning was ample," said artist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the MVT announced it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The Joiners in Southampton and the second in that location were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the properties.