Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the award on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
He has opted to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation supported locations that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues obtained monetary aid in upgrading amenities and gear that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from shows in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to contribute his award prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when the band received the trophy in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, frontman the singer stated that the act would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her award between a few organizations, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed updated gear," she shared with outlets.
In recent years, they donated their prize money to the community center that nurtured their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally 1994 winners M People donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said singer Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the trust revealed it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the properties.
