The musician donates his £25k prize Mercury Prize to small concert halls

The singer holding his trophy in the North East
Sam Fender was awarded the Mercury Prize recently in the North East

The star has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the Britain's independent music venues.

He was awarded the cheque on 16 October as his new release People Watching was declared the best record of the last 12 months.

He has opted to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.

In the last year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports local stages.

Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to support thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money supported venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Some locations obtained financial assistance in improving infrastructure and gear that helped musicians and fans.

"The concept that funds from shows in big venues helps the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.

Pulp members performing
Pulp are one of the many acts who donated their honor prize money to non-profits

Fender is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to worthy causes.

When they earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their record their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would donate their winnings to the organization the charity.

During 2002, rapper and singer she divided her prize across a few good causes, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.

Two years ago, they gave their funds to the community center that developed their group, as well as other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the illness.

"The victory was sufficient," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted another person's life."

In the past week, the trust announced it had rescued several small stages in the South East, by transferring them to local control.

The first in the city and the second in Bristol were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and music fans who buy "shares" in the buildings.

Scott Thomas
Scott Thomas

Lena ist eine leidenschaftliche Innenarchitektin mit über zehn Jahren Erfahrung in kreativen Wohnkonzepten.

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