Sam Fender contributes his £25k prize Mercury Prize to small concert halls

The artist has given the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the Britain's small live music spots.

Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

The musician has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots had in his beginning days.

"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.

In the last year, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.

Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 small stages across the UK.

The money assisted locations that were confronting possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The notion that money from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.

He is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to charitable organizations.

In they received the award in the year 1996 for their release their work, lead singer the singer declared that the band would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

That year, rapper and singer she split her prize across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I gave a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she told the media.

Two years ago, they donated their prize money to the community center that supported their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

And 1994 winners M People gave their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT shared it had saved several grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.