The musician contributes his £25k prize Mercury Prize to independent live spaces

The artist receiving his trophy in the North East
Sam Fender was awarded the prestigious award in October in the North East

The star has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's independent music venues.

The star was awarded the award on 16 October as his third album his work was chosen as the best record of the past year.

He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his initial steps.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16% of the total UK scene.

Recently, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.

He also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous local spots across Britain.

These funds supported locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues received monetary aid in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The notion that funds from shows in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," the star has stated.

The band Pulp performing
Pulp are among the artists who donated their award funds to charity

He is not the first artist to give his award winnings to worthy causes.

In they won the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the non-profit the charity.

That year, musician the artist divided her award among a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," the artist shared with a publication.

In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Also 1994 winners the group contributed their award to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked artist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched the lives of others."

In the past week, the trust revealed it had saved two local spots in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.

One venue in that area and the second in that location were purchased under the community ownership program, which is backed by a national body and music fans who buy "stakes" in the venues.

Brian Smith
Brian Smith

A passionate retro gamer and historian with over a decade of experience in preserving and celebrating classic arcade games.