Sam Fender gives his £25k prize award winnings to small live spaces

Sam Fender accepting Mercury Prize in his hometown
The musician received the Mercury Prize last month in the North East

The star has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which operates to save the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.

The star was awarded the award on October 16 as his latest record his work was named the top album of the previous year.

Fender has decided to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages had in his initial steps.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his recent tour to help numerous small stages across Britain.

The donation supported venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.

Some locations obtained monetary aid in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.

"The concept that funds from performances in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has commented.

Pulp members performing
The group are one of the many acts who donated their award prize money to charity

The musician is among several artists to contribute his award prize money to good deeds.

In they received the prize in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would give their cash to the organization War Child.

That year, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty between several charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they needed updated gear," the artist shared with the media.

In recent years, they donated their winnings to the local youth club that developed their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

And winners that year M People contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.

"Receiving the award was ample," stated singer Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the trust revealed it had protected two small stages in that region, by placing them under local control.

One venue in Southampton and the other in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.

Patrick Anderson
Patrick Anderson

A senior database architect with over 15 years of experience in enterprise data solutions and cloud infrastructure.