Sam Fender gives his £25k prize Mercury Prize to grassroots live spaces

The artist holding his trophy in the North East
Sam Fender received the honor in October in Newcastle

The artist has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award cash to the trust for venues, which functions to save the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.

The star was given the award on October 16 as his latest record his work was declared the best record of the previous year.

He has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function local spots had in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support numerous small stages across Britain.

The money supported venues that were facing potential shutdown due to issues arising from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and audiences.

"The idea that money from performances in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has stated.

The band Pulp on stage
The group are among the artists who contributed their award funds to good causes

The musician is not the first artist to give his award winnings to worthy causes.

In the band earned the prize in 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.

That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her award between several charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told the media.

Previously, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, alongside other independent music bodies.

Additionally the 1994 recipients they donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the illness.

"The victory was sufficient," stated artist Small. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success impacted the lives of others."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued a couple of local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.

The first in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the community ownership program, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the properties.

Mrs. Sheri Dennis
Mrs. Sheri Dennis

A tech writer specializing in digital storage solutions and cybersecurity, with over a decade of industry experience.