The artist donates twenty-five thousand pounds cash award to independent live spaces

The artist has given the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which functions to save the Britain's grassroots live music spots.

He was presented with the award on mid-October as his third album his work was named the top album of the last 12 months.

The musician has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues played in his beginning days.

"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."

Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.

Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous small stages across the UK.

These funds supported locations that were dealing with possible closure due to issues arising from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Some locations received financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.

"The concept that funds from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.

Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his honor funds to worthy causes.

When Pulp received the award in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the organization War Child.

That year, musician the artist divided her prize across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," the artist explained to outlets.

In recent years, they donated their winnings to the community center that developed their band, as well as other local music groups.

And the 1994 recipients the group donated their award to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the illness.

"The victory was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory touched the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The first in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.