Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to help numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties caused by floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and fans.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to give his honor funds to good deeds.
When they earned the award in the mid-90s for their release their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
In 2002, musician the artist split her award across a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," the artist explained to outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the community center that supported their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
And winners that year the group gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory touched another person's life."
Last week, the trust shared it had protected several small stages in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in that area and The Croft in that location were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by a national body and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.
