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Sam Fender donates £25,000 Mercury Prize to small live spaces

Sam Fender receiving the award in the North East
He won the Mercury Prize in October in Newcastle

The artist has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the MVT, which works to save the United Kingdom's independent music venues.

He was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.

He has decided to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues played in his initial steps.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.

Recently, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

He also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.

The donation supported venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.

Other venues received monetary aid in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and audiences.

"The notion that revenue from concerts in big venues backs the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.

Pulp members on stage
They are one of the many acts who contributed their Mercury Prize winnings to good causes

The musician is not the first artist to give his award prize money to worthy causes.

When the band won the trophy in 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Cocker stated that the act would contribute their prize money to the non-profit the charity.

During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her award across several good causes, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also gave a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," she told outlets.

Two years ago, they contributed their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, as well as other independent music bodies.

And winners that year they contributed their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.

"Winning was quite enough," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."

Last week, the MVT revealed it had protected a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into local control.

One venue in the city and the second in Bristol were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by a national body and supporters who buy "shares" in the buildings.

About the author

Rebecca Vazquez

Wildlife biologist and conservationist with over a decade of experience studying sloths in Central America.

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