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The artist contributes £25,000 Mercury Prize to independent live spaces

Sam Fender receiving Mercury Prize in Newcastle
He received the prestigious award last month in the North East

The artist has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the MVT, which works to save the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.

He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his new release the album was declared the top album of the previous year.

Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues had in his early career.

"I wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

He also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to support 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money assisted locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties caused by water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing amenities and gear that helped performers and audiences.

"The notion that money from concerts in big venues supports the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

The band Pulp on stage
The group are one of the many acts who donated their award prize money to non-profits

Fender is among several artists to contribute his award winnings to good deeds.

When the band received the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, frontman the singer declared that the band would donate their cash to the non-profit War Child.

In 2002, musician she split her bounty between several charities, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I gave a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.

Previously, the band contributed their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also winners that year the group gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the illness.

"Winning was ample," remarked artist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected another person's life."

Last week, the MVT shared it had protected two local spots in that region, by placing them under local control.

The first in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "shares" in the properties.

MH
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Michael Hill

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