🔗 Share this article

The artist has donated the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the MVT, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.

He was awarded the prize on mid-October as his third album his work was declared the top album of the previous year.

Fender has decided to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 grassroots venues across Britain.

The money assisted venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.

Some locations received monetary aid in improving facilities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.

"The concept that money from concerts in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.

He is not the first artist to donate his award funds to worthy causes.

Back when the band received the prize in 1996 for their record the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would give their cash to the organization the charity.

In 2002, artist Ms Dynamite split her prize among several organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," she told the media.

Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their band, alongside other local music groups.

And the 1994 recipients they contributed their award to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the disease.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked artist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several small stages in the South East, by bringing them into local control.

One venue in Southampton and The Croft in that location were purchased under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the properties.