The musician contributes £25,000 award winnings to small concert halls

The singer holding the award in Newcastle
He won the prestigious award recently in the North East

The star has donated the full amount of his £25,000 honor prize money to the MVT, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.

Fender was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the past year.

The musician has opted to give the cash to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the performances I did around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

Recently, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help independent venues.

Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to support numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds assisted venues that were confronting possible closure due to challenges caused by flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.

Some locations obtained monetary aid in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that helped musicians and audiences.

"The idea that funds from performances in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.

The band Pulp performing
The group are one example who contributed their Mercury Prize prize money to good causes

The musician is not the first artist to contribute his award funds to good deeds.

When they earned the prize in 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the band would give their cash to the non-profit the charity.

In 2002, artist the artist divided her prize between multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told a publication.

Two years ago, the band donated their winnings to the local youth club that developed their group, in addition to other local music groups.

Also winners that year the group donated their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.

"Receiving the award was ample," said artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning touched somebody else's life."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The first in that area and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.

Sydney Hernandez
Sydney Hernandez

A tech enthusiast and lifestyle blogger with a passion for simplifying complex topics and sharing actionable insights.