🔗 Share this article

The star has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which works to protect the UK's small live music spots.

He was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the last 12 months.

The musician has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The donation supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces obtained funding support in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.

"The idea that money from shows in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

The musician is among several artists to contribute his honor funds to charitable organizations.

In they received the trophy in the mid-90s for their record their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their cash to the organization the charity.

In 2002, artist Ms Dynamite shared her prize between several charities, including the NSPCC 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," she told the media.

Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the youth organization that supported their group, as well as other independent music bodies.

And the 1994 recipients the group donated their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the illness.

"Winning was ample," remarked artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the MVT announced it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were bought under the public acquisition program, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.