The musician donates his £25k prize award winnings to small live spaces

The star has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the Britain's independent concert spaces.

Fender was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his new release the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.

He has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the crucial part small stages played in his initial steps.

"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.

He also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to help thirty-eight small stages across the UK.

The donation assisted venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties arising from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and audiences.

"The concept that funds from performances in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.

The musician is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.

When they received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Cocker stated that the act would donate their cash to the charity the charity.

During 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her award among multiple charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to outlets.

Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the community center that nurtured their group, as well as other independent music bodies.

Additionally the 1994 recipients they donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"Winning was ample," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted another person's life."

Last week, the MVT shared it had protected several local spots in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The first in that area and the other in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the venues.