🔗 Share this article The artist contributes his £25k prize Mercury Prize to small concert halls He was awarded the Mercury Prize recently in his hometown Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the Britain's small concert spaces. Fender was given the prize on 16 October as his new release the album was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months. The musician has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role local spots played in his initial steps. "I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty." From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK. Recently, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports local stages. He also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to support 38 grassroots venues across Britain. The money helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues. Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and fans. "The notion that funds from concerts in large arenas helps the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated. They are one example who gave their award winnings to non-profits The musician is far from the only musician to donate his award funds to charitable organizations. Back when the band received the trophy in 1996 for their release the album, frontman the singer stated that the band would contribute their cash to the non-profit War Child. In 2002, rapper and singer she split her bounty across multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell. "I also donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with the media. Previously, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their group, alongside other independent music bodies. And winners that year the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the disease. "Winning was quite enough," stated artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory touched somebody else's life." In the past week, the MVT announced it had rescued two grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under local control. The first in that area and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "shares" in the properties.