Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the UK's small live music spots.
The star was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his new release People Watching was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, raising over £100k on his live tour to help 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
The money assisted spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to issues caused by water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues obtained funding support in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The notion that money from shows in big venues helps the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his honor winnings to worthy causes.
When the band received the trophy in the year 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would give their winnings to the organization the charity.
In 2002, artist the artist divided her award between several organizations, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," the artist told the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the community center that nurtured their group, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also winners that year they contributed their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued several grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under local control.
The first in Southampton and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who purchase "shares" in the properties.
