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The musician contributes his £25k prize Mercury Prize to small concert halls

Sam Fender holding the award in Newcastle
Sam Fender received the Mercury Prize in October in Newcastle

The artist has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 award winnings to the trust for venues, which works to save the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.

He was given the award on 16 October as his new release the album was declared the top album of the previous year.

Fender has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.

"I would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, major artists including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.

Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.

The donation supported venues that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges caused by floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and fans.

"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.

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

The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his award winnings to charitable organizations.

When they earned the prize in the mid-90s for their release the album, vocalist the singer announced that the band would donate their prize money to the charity the charity.

In 2002, artist the artist split her award across a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also contributed a grand to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.

Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the youth organization that developed their act, in addition to other local music groups.

And 1994 winners they donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the illness.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked singer the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched somebody else's life."

In the past week, the MVT announced it had rescued several small stages in that region, by bringing them into local control.

The first in Southampton and The Croft in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by the arts council and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the venues.

BR
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Brenda Ryan

A professional blackjack strategist with over a decade of experience in casino gaming and mathematical analysis.

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