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The artist donates his £25k prize cash award to grassroots music venues

The artist holding Mercury Prize in Newcastle
Sam Fender received the honor in October in the North East

The artist has given the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the UK's grassroots concert spaces.

The star was awarded the prize on mid-October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

The musician has chosen to give the cash to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages played in his initial steps.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

Recently, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.

He also joined in, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 local spots across the UK.

The donation helped spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Other venues obtained financial assistance in improving facilities and gear that helped performers and audiences.

"The idea that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.

The band Pulp performing
The group are one example who gave their award prize money to charity

He is among several artists to give his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.

In Pulp earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.

In 2002, musician she split her bounty across multiple good causes, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

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

Previously, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the community center that supported their act, as well as other independent music bodies.

And winners that year the group gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.

"The victory was quite enough," said vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched another person's life."

Last week, the MVT shared it had protected two local spots in the South East, by transferring them to local control.

One venue in that area and the other in that location were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the properties.

About the author

Rhonda Wilcox

Urban mobility expert and researcher at TU Delft, specializing in AI-driven transportation systems.

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