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The musician donates twenty-five thousand pounds award winnings to grassroots concert halls

The singer holding the award in his hometown
Sam Fender was awarded the prestigious award recently in Newcastle

The artist has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.

The star was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album the album was named the best record of the last 12 months.

He has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages played in his initial steps.

"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to help 38 local spots across the UK.

The money supported venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Some locations obtained funding support in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The concept that funds from performances in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.

Pulp members performing
Pulp are among the artists who gave their honor funds to charity

He is far from the only musician to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.

When Pulp earned the award in the year 1996 for their album the album, lead singer the singer announced that the group would donate their winnings to the charity the charity.

During 2002, artist the artist divided her award between several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.

Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the local youth club that supported their band, as well as other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients M People gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the condition.

"The victory was quite enough," stated artist Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The first in that area and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the buildings.

Written by

Alex Davis

A digital strategist and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in online innovation and trend analysis.

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