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The artist donates twenty-five thousand pounds award winnings to small music venues

Sam Fender receiving the award in his hometown
He was awarded the Mercury Prize recently in Newcastle

The artist has given the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to save the UK's grassroots concert spaces.

He was awarded the prize on mid-October as his third album the album was chosen as the best record of the previous year.

The musician has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his early career.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.

He also joined in, raising over £100k on his live tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.

These funds supported venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.

Other venues were granted monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The concept that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.

Pulp performing
Pulp are one of the many acts who gave their Mercury Prize winnings to charity

He is among several artists to contribute his honor winnings to worthy causes.

When the band received the prize in 1996 for their album their work, lead singer the singer declared that the band would give their cash to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, musician the artist split her prize across a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked new equipment," Ms Dynamite told a publication.

Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their act, as well as other local music groups.

Also the 1994 recipients the group gave their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.

"The victory was ample," said artist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected the lives of others."

Last week, the trust shared it had rescued a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.

One venue in the city and the other in Bristol were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.

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Mary Hansen

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and player strategy development.

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