🔗 Share this article

The artist has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award prize money to the MVT, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's small music venues.

The star was given the prize on mid-October as his third album his work was named the best record of the previous year.

The musician has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his initial steps.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, top acts such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.

He also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money assisted spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties caused by floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.

Other venues received monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and audiences.

"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.

Fender is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to good deeds.

When Pulp won the trophy in the mid-90s for their release their work, frontman Cocker declared that the group would give their cash to the charity War Child.

That year, artist Ms Dynamite shared her prize among several charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I donated a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed updated gear," she told a publication.

Two years ago, the band donated their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their group, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Additionally winners that year the group contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the condition.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning affected another person's life."

Last week, the MVT shared it had saved several small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.

The first in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by a national body and enthusiasts who purchase "stakes" in the properties.