Skip to content
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Origin Field

The artist gives his £25k prize Mercury Prize to grassroots live spaces

The artist holding his trophy in his hometown
The musician won the honor last month in Newcastle

The star has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the Britain's independent live music spots.

He was awarded the prize on 16 October as his third album his work was declared the top album of the past year.

He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his initial steps.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his live tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.

"The notion that funds from shows in major spaces supports the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.

The band Pulp in concert
They are one example who gave their Mercury Prize winnings to non-profits

Fender is among several artists to give his award funds to good deeds.

Back when they won the prize in 1996 for their album their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.

During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.

In recent years, the band contributed their funds to the youth organization that supported their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And 1994 winners M People donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.

"Winning was sufficient," said vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT announced it had saved several local spots in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.

The Joiners in the city and The Croft in the city were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by a national body and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the venues.

The writer

Catherine Moody

Maya Chen is a tech enthusiast and designer with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and user-centered design.

Origin Field

Type to search articles.