The artist contributes his £25k prize Mercury Prize to independent concert halls

Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k award winnings to the MVT, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.

Fender was awarded the award on October 16 as his third album the album was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

The musician has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his early career.

"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to support 38 grassroots venues across Britain.

These funds supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Other venues obtained funding support in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that helped artists and fans.

"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

Fender is not the first artist to contribute his honor winnings to worthy causes.

In the band received the prize in 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would contribute their cash to the charity the charity.

In 2002, musician the artist divided her prize between a few good causes, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," she shared with the media.

Previously, they contributed their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their group, as well as other independent music bodies.

Also winners that year they contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the disease.

"The victory was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the trust revealed it had protected two local spots in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.

The first in the city and the second in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.