Sam Fender gives twenty-five thousand pounds award winnings to grassroots live spaces
The artist has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the MVT, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
He was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record the album was named the best record of the past year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.
"I couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, top acts including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
He also participated, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
The money supported venues that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.
Some locations were granted monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.
"The idea that money from concerts in big venues supports the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
The musician is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
Back when they won the trophy in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the group would contribute their cash to the organization the charity.
That year, artist she divided her prize between multiple organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite told outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their act, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year the group contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Winning was ample," stated singer Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of small stages in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The first in that area and the other in Bristol were purchased under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "shares" in the venues.