Breadcrumb Home News Sam Fender Tour Raises £50,000 For Yo... Sam Fender Tour Raises £50,000 for Youth Music Posted: 24/03/2026 Copy URL https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/news/sam-fender-tour-donation Sam Fender Tour Raises £50,000 for Youth Music Posted: 24/03/2026 Copy URL https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/news/sam-fender-tour-donation BRIT Award-winning musician Sam Fender has donated £50,000 to Youth Music through ticket donations from his recent 'People Watching Tour'.Earlier in his career, Fender was supported by Generator, a North East project funded by Youth Music.The money will be match funded through our 'Rescue the Roots' campaign - a £2 million fundraising drive to protect the future of grassroots youth music projects across the UK. And the total sum, £100,000, will be go directly to music projects reaching young people in the North East. Youth Music already invests £866,000 each year in grassroots youth projects and emerging talent across the North East, supporting 23 organisations and individuals. I’m proud to support Youth Music and their ‘Rescue the Roots’ campaign. Help for young people in The Arts is scarce - projects like these are so important. Sam Fender The investment tackles persistent regional inequalities highlighted in our Sound of the Next Generation (SONG) report: only half (52%) of young people in the north of England see themselves as musical in comparison to 62% of people in the south.The findings point to ongoing structural barriers outside of London, including fewer local industry connections, less access to decision-makers, and limited opportunities to perform and progress. We’re incredibly grateful to Sam for choosing to support Youth Music and young people in the North East. Music can change young people’s lives, but too many still face barriers to accessing it, just because of where they live. This crucial funding will help ensure opportunity isn’t dictated by postcode. It’s really encouraging to see more and more successful artists giving back to grassroots music, which is often where they learn their craft. Carol Reid Interim Co-CEO, Youth Music Find out more about 'Rescue the Roots' Latest News news We’ve raised £1 million for grassroots music. But it's not enough. We’ve raised £1 million for grassroots youth music through Rescue the Roots, unlocking £2 million in total. But with projects under threat and demand soaring, thousands of young people still risk missing out. Read more news Catalyser Fund: how we made our decisions This article sets out how decisions were made for the Catalyser Fund Round 6. Read more news Energiser Fund brings early years practitioners together Early years partners gathered in Corby to share ideas, explore creative practice and reflect together as part of the Energiser Fund’s collaborative learning programme. Read more news Headlines to Headliners: The Importance of Music Journalism in Grassroots Music Scenes We teamed up with award-winning Welsh music platform Klust to host an evening of panel discussions, live performances and networking in Cardiff. Read more news Meet the Shift The Scene Recipients Meet the recipients of Youth Music’s Shift The Scene Fund. These organisations are co-creating ambitious, inclusive creative programmes with Disabled young people and shifting how the sector designs access and opportunity. Read more news Youth Music Supported Artists Winning Big Artists supported by Youth Music are gaining major industry recognition, from award wins to festival stages. Discover how early support, including the NextGen Fund, is helping emerging talent break through. Read more news Youth Music’s First‑Ever Fundraising Auction: Young people across the UK are at risk of losing access to life‑changing music projects. Join Youth Music’s first-ever fundraising auction and help protect the future of grassroots music. Your bid can make a real difference Read more news Announcing Our New CEO Youth Music announces the appointment of Adam Joolia as our new CEO. Adam brings two decades of leadership in music and social change and will guide our next strategic phase focused on equity, youth voice and sector partnerships. Read more news a young artist reflects on inequality and the graduate job crisis Sambambo is a 27-year-old session saxophonist, freelance sound engineer and self-producing independent artist. During the final session of our recent Industry Connect Coalition event in Bristol, Sam raised the graduate job crisis as a key ‘elephant in the room’. Here is Sam’s take on what many young people are thinking. Read more news Sam Fender Tour Raises £50,000 for Youth Music Sam Fender has raised £50,000 from 'People Watching Tour' ticket donations, to be match funded through our Rescue the Roots campaign. Read more View all latest news Prev Next
news We’ve raised £1 million for grassroots music. But it's not enough. We’ve raised £1 million for grassroots youth music through Rescue the Roots, unlocking £2 million in total. But with projects under threat and demand soaring, thousands of young people still risk missing out. Read more
news Catalyser Fund: how we made our decisions This article sets out how decisions were made for the Catalyser Fund Round 6. Read more
news Energiser Fund brings early years practitioners together Early years partners gathered in Corby to share ideas, explore creative practice and reflect together as part of the Energiser Fund’s collaborative learning programme. Read more
news Headlines to Headliners: The Importance of Music Journalism in Grassroots Music Scenes We teamed up with award-winning Welsh music platform Klust to host an evening of panel discussions, live performances and networking in Cardiff. Read more
news Meet the Shift The Scene Recipients Meet the recipients of Youth Music’s Shift The Scene Fund. These organisations are co-creating ambitious, inclusive creative programmes with Disabled young people and shifting how the sector designs access and opportunity. Read more
news Youth Music Supported Artists Winning Big Artists supported by Youth Music are gaining major industry recognition, from award wins to festival stages. Discover how early support, including the NextGen Fund, is helping emerging talent break through. Read more
news Youth Music’s First‑Ever Fundraising Auction: Young people across the UK are at risk of losing access to life‑changing music projects. Join Youth Music’s first-ever fundraising auction and help protect the future of grassroots music. Your bid can make a real difference Read more
news Announcing Our New CEO Youth Music announces the appointment of Adam Joolia as our new CEO. Adam brings two decades of leadership in music and social change and will guide our next strategic phase focused on equity, youth voice and sector partnerships. Read more
news a young artist reflects on inequality and the graduate job crisis Sambambo is a 27-year-old session saxophonist, freelance sound engineer and self-producing independent artist. During the final session of our recent Industry Connect Coalition event in Bristol, Sam raised the graduate job crisis as a key ‘elephant in the room’. Here is Sam’s take on what many young people are thinking. Read more
news Sam Fender Tour Raises £50,000 for Youth Music Sam Fender has raised £50,000 from 'People Watching Tour' ticket donations, to be match funded through our Rescue the Roots campaign. Read more
