Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
He was given the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the best record of the past year.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots played in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, major artists like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to help numerous local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in improving facilities and technical equipment that helped performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that revenue from shows in large arenas helps the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.
The musician is among several artists to donate his award funds to charitable organizations.
When the band earned the award in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the act would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she divided her bounty across multiple charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist shared with a publication.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year they donated their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"The victory was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our success touched the lives of others."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
The Joiners in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by a national body and music fans who buy "shares" in the buildings.
