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The artist contributes twenty-five thousand pounds Mercury Prize to small live spaces

The artist accepting his trophy in his hometown
Sam Fender received the prestigious award recently in the North East

The star has given the entirety of his £25,000 award winnings to the MVT, which functions to save the Britain's independent music venues.

Fender was presented with the prize on 16 October as his new release his work was named the top album of the past year.

The musician has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.

"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across Britain.

The money helped spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.

Other venues received funding support in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The notion that money from shows in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.

Pulp in concert
They are one example who donated their honor funds to charity

The musician is not the first artist to give his honor funds to charitable organizations.

Back when they earned the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, lead singer Cocker declared that the group would donate their winnings to the non-profit the charity.

In 2002, musician she divided her bounty among several good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the community center that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Also the 1994 recipients the group gave their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.

"The victory was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning affected somebody else's life."

Last week, the MVT announced it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.

One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were bought under the public acquisition program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.

The writer

Mark Long

Elin är en svensk livsstilsbloggare med passion för hållbarhet och personlig utveckling, skriver regelbundet om vardagslycka.

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