The artist donates £25,000 award winnings to small live spaces
The artist has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the Britain's small concert spaces.
Fender was given the prize on October 16 as his new release the album was chosen as the top album of the past year.
The musician has decided to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages had in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Recently, well-known musicians like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
The money assisted spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to challenges caused by flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from concerts in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to give his award funds to charitable organizations.
In Pulp earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their record the album, vocalist the singer announced that the group would give their winnings to the organization the charity.
That year, musician the artist shared her bounty among multiple organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," she shared with outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients the group donated their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Winning was ample," said artist Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had protected two small stages in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the buildings.