The Geordie-born star collected his award for the critically acclaimed album People Watching. He decided to give the £25,000 prize to Music Venue Trust.
Sam Fender donated his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to charity supporting grassroots venues across the country. The Geordie-born star collected the award in Newcastle for his critically acclaimed album People Watching last month.
He decided to give the prize to Music Venue Trust, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues played in his early career. It means a total of £160,000 has been raised for charity from his recent gigs around the world.
Fans gave a further £35,000 for Doctors Without Borders, supporting their work around the globe. The charity also paid tribute to the star for raising awareness of the work done by their volunteers around the world. His Newcastle United hero Dan Burn made a special guest appearance on stage at his final gig at St James Park in the summer.
And the singer had already given £100,000 to MVT in 2024. Making the latest donation, Fender, 31, said: “I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if it wasn’t for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out.
“These venues are legendary, but they are struggling.” Mark Davyd, CEO and founder of Music Venue Trust, said: “This is an incredible gesture by Sam.
“It demonstrates once again that artists absolutely understand how vital grassroots music venues are to their careers and to their communities.
“We are honoured to accept this donation and will ensure every penny of it makes a direct difference to the campaign to keep live music at the heart of our towns and cities.”
Sam’s 2024 arena tour raised more than £100,000 that was distributed by MVT via its Liveline Fund. That supported 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Speaking at the time Sam said, “It’s brilliant to see that the money raised from the arena tour is making a real difference to so many venues. The grassroots circuit has been decimated over the last 10 years or so.
“The idea that money from shows in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense.”
His world tour had raised tens of thousands of pounds to help volunteers on the frontline in war zones. Doctors Without Borders said: “We are incredibly grateful to Sam Fender for his partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières on his recent European tour.
“By inviting our fundraisers to engage with his fans, Sam helped us raise over £35,000 to fund our crucial humanitarian work around the world.
“On behalf of our patients and teams in Palestine, we extend a profound thank you to Sam and his team for speaking out and drawing public attention to the devastating situation there.
Source: Mirror
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