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The musician contributes £25,000 award winnings to grassroots music venues

The singer accepting the award in his hometown
The musician received the Mercury Prize last month in his hometown

The star has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the UK's small concert spaces.

He was awarded the award on 16 October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

He has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.

Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across the UK.

The money assisted locations that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties arising from floods, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.

Other venues were granted monetary aid in upgrading facilities and gear that positively impacted artists and audiences.

"The concept that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.

Pulp performing
They are one of the many acts who gave their award funds to good causes

The musician is among several artists to donate his honor funds to good deeds.

When the band received the award in 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the group would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her prize across a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," she told outlets.

Two years ago, the band contributed their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And the 1994 recipients M People contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.

"Receiving the award was ample," stated artist Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning affected the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.

One venue in that area and the second in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "stakes" in the venues.

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By

Cameron Ortiz

Liam is a seasoned gamer and writer with a passion for exploring game mechanics and sharing insights with the gaming community.

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