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Sam Fender gives £25,000 award winnings to grassroots live spaces

The artist receiving his trophy in the North East
The musician received the honor last month in the North East

The artist has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 award winnings to the trust for venues, which operates to save the Britain's independent concert spaces.

Fender was given the award on mid-October 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 trust, in appreciation of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his early career.

"I personally would not have achieved this success if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.

Recently, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.

Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his live tour to support numerous grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation helped locations that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties arising from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Some locations received funding support in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The concept that money from performances in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has said.

The band Pulp in concert
The group are one of the many acts who gave their honor prize money to good causes

The musician is far from the only musician to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.

When the band earned the award in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the charity the charity.

During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her prize across several good causes, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," the artist shared with outlets.

Previously, they contributed their winnings to the local youth club that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.

Also winners that year M People contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the illness.

"The victory was sufficient," remarked artist Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to local control.

The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.

Written by

Adrian Hicks

Elara is a seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience reviewing online casinos and advocating for player safety.

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