🔗 Share this article

The star has donated the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.

Fender was presented with the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the previous year.

The musician has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the crucial part local spots played in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

Fender also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support thirty-eight small stages across Britain.

These funds supported venues that were confronting possible closure due to issues stemming from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Other venues were granted monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and audiences.

"The concept that revenue from performances in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.

Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his honor winnings to good deeds.

In Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer announced that the band would contribute their prize money to the non-profit the charity.

In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her prize between multiple good causes, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.

In recent years, the band donated their winnings to the local youth club that developed their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Additionally the 1994 recipients M People contributed their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"Receiving the award was ample," remarked vocalist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success touched the lives of others."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.

The first in the city and The Croft in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the venues.