The artist gives his £25k prize Mercury Prize to small concert halls
Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the UK's small live music spots.
He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the best record of the past year.
He has decided to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 local spots across the UK.
The money assisted spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues received funding support in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from performances in big venues helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to give his award funds to good deeds.
When the band received the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, lead singer the singer stated that the group would give their cash to the organization War Child.
During 2002, artist the artist split her prize between multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," the artist told the media.
In recent years, the band gave their prize money to the community center that supported their band, alongside other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People donated their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was ample," said singer the singer. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT shared it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in Bristol were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the buildings.
