Sam Fender gives twenty-five thousand pounds Mercury Prize to small concert halls

Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the Britain's small music venues.

He was presented with the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the best record of the previous year.

He has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his initial steps.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

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

Sam Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 small stages across Britain.

The donation supported venues that were dealing with possible closure due to issues stemming from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.

Some locations received funding support in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.

"The notion that funds from concerts in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

He is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.

In they earned the prize in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the group would donate their prize money to the non-profit War Child.

In 2002, musician she divided her bounty across a few charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," the artist told a publication.

Previously, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the community center that nurtured their group, as well as other local music groups.

Also 1994 winners the group gave their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the disease.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched the lives of others."

Last week, the MVT announced it had rescued two grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.

One venue in that area and The Croft in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "shares" in the venues.