The musician donates £25,000 award winnings to independent live spaces

The artist receiving Mercury Prize in his hometown
The musician won the prestigious award last month in his hometown

The artist has given the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award prize money to the MVT, which operates to save the UK's small concert spaces.

Fender was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record his work was named the outstanding release of the past year.

Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.

"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.

In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also participated, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation helped locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Other venues obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and gear that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.

"The idea that funds from concerts in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," the star has commented.

The band Pulp in concert
The group are among the artists who gave their Mercury Prize funds to charity

The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his award prize money to worthy causes.

In the band earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker announced that the group would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.

In 2002, rapper and singer she divided her prize across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I donated a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," the artist shared with a publication.

In recent years, they gave their funds to the community center that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.

Also winners that year the group gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the disease.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked singer Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the MVT announced it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The first in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.

Tracy Robertson
Tracy Robertson

Amber Voss is a seasoned journalist and content strategist with a passion for delivering impactful news stories.