🔗 Share this article

The artist has given the complete sum of his £25k award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's independent music venues.

He was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his initial steps.

"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across the UK.

The money supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties caused by floods, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues obtained financial assistance in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.

"The idea that money from performances in big venues supports the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

He is among several artists to contribute his honor winnings to good deeds.

Back when the band earned the award in the year 1996 for their release their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their winnings to the non-profit the charity.

During 2002, artist the artist divided her bounty between several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to a publication.

In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the community center that supported their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And the 1994 recipients M People contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the illness.

"Winning was sufficient," remarked artist Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved several local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.

One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.