Sam Fender donates his £25k prize award winnings to independent music venues

The star has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the MVT, which functions to protect the Britain's independent concert spaces.

He was given the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the best record of the past year.

The musician has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his early career.

"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.

In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his live tour to help 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money helped venues that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.

Some locations were granted financial assistance in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that helped musicians and audiences.

"The concept that funds from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.

The musician is far from the only musician to give his award prize money to charitable organizations.

In they received the award in the year 1996 for their record their work, vocalist the singer announced that the group would donate their cash to the organization War Child.

In 2002, rapper and singer she divided her bounty across a few organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she told outlets.

Previously, the band donated their winnings to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Also 1994 winners they donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the illness.

"Winning was sufficient," said artist Heather Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the trust shared it had saved several small stages in that region, by placing them under local control.

One venue in the city and the other in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the venues.