Alex Turner's guitar raises more than £120k for small venues

26 August 2020, 15:02 | Updated: 26 August 2020, 15:06

The black Fender Stratocaster was auctioned to raise money for grassroots venues such as Sheffield's Leadmill.

Alex Turner's guitar has raised more than £120,000 for a charity that supports grassroots music venues.

Arctic Monkeys joined forces with the Music Venue Trust to raise money for locations like Sheffield's Leadmill, which have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now the black Fender Stratocaster has raised £128,544 in a charity raffle, with an announcement on the Crowdfunder page added that there were "14,410 supporters in 14 days."

The guitar was used by Turner in the early days of the band's career, including their first show at The Grapes in Sheffield in 2003.

Watch Alex Turner play the guitar onstage at Sheffield's Leadmill:

Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales Of San Francisco - The Leadmill

The Leadmill - which is the main focus of the campaign - has played host to many acts over the years, including Pulp, Coldplay, Oasis, The White Stripes, Muse and The Stone Roses.

Those who entered the raffle were given access to a special screening of Arctic Monkeys' famous 2006 Reading Festival performance.

The Crowdfunder stated that: "All funds raised will go to The Music Venue Trust to support The Leadmill in Sheffield and other independent grassroots music venues across the UK. Thank you for your support."