The musician donates twenty-five thousand pounds award winnings to small music venues

Sam Fender accepting the award in Newcastle
He was awarded the honor in October in his hometown

Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the Britain's independent music venues.

He was presented with the award on October 16 as his new release his work was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.

The musician has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, top acts like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across Britain.

The donation helped venues that were confronting possible closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received funding support in modernizing amenities and gear that positively impacted musicians and fans.

"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.

The band Pulp in concert
The group are one of the many acts who donated their Mercury Prize funds to non-profits

The musician is among several artists to give his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.

When the band received the trophy in the year 1996 for their record their work, frontman the singer announced that the band would give their cash to the charity War Child.

In 2002, artist she divided her award between multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.

In recent years, they gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Also winners that year M People gave their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.

"Winning was quite enough," remarked singer Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted the lives of others."

In the past week, the MVT shared it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.

The first in the city and the other in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is backed by a national body and music fans who acquire "shares" in the buildings.

Jennifer Martinez
Jennifer Martinez

A tech enthusiast and software developer with over a decade of experience in web technologies and digital innovation.