The musician contributes his £25k prize cash award to small music venues

Sam Fender accepting the award in his hometown
Sam Fender was awarded the prestigious award recently in Newcastle

The artist has given the complete sum of his £25,000 award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.

The star was awarded the award on 16 October as his third album the album was named the best record of the last 12 months.

He has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.

He also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across the UK.

The money helped venues that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, court cases and neighbor objections.

Some locations obtained funding support in improving facilities and gear that positively impacted musicians and audiences.

"The idea that money from concerts in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," the star has said.

The band Pulp on stage
Pulp are one of the many acts who contributed their honor funds to good causes

He is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to charitable organizations.

When the band won the award in 1996 for their record their work, lead singer the singer declared that the group would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.

In 2002, artist the artist shared her prize across multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked new equipment," she told a publication.

In recent years, the band donated their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

Also the 1994 recipients they donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the disease.

"The victory was sufficient," said singer the singer. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning touched another person's life."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.

The first in Southampton and the other in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by the arts council and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.

David Fields
David Fields

Expert in online gokken en strategieën met jarenlange ervaring in de kansspelindustrie.