🔗 Share this article

Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which works to save the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.

He was given the prize on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.

Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages had in his early career.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also took part, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 small stages across Britain.

The donation assisted spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues arising from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The concept that revenue from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.

The musician is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to good deeds.

In they won the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.

That year, artist the artist divided her prize between multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," the artist explained to outlets.

Previously, they contributed their winnings to the local youth club that developed their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Additionally the 1994 recipients they contributed their award to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the illness.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated singer the singer. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning affected another person's life."

Last week, the trust announced it had protected two grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.

The first in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the buildings.