The artist contributes £25,000 Mercury Prize to small live spaces
The artist has handed over the complete sum of his £25k honor winnings to the trust for venues, which works to save the Britain's small live music spots.
Fender was presented with the cheque on October 16 as his latest record his work was named the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role local spots played in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues received funding support in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues helps the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor funds to good deeds.
In they received the award in the year 1996 for their album their work, frontman Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist she shared her award across a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.
Two years ago, the band donated their funds to the community center that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated vocalist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved two local spots in that region, by placing them under local control.
The first in Southampton and the second in that location were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.