Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to save the Britain's independent concert spaces.
Fender was given the prize on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was declared the top album of the past year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped locations that were facing potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and fans.
"The idea that money from shows in major spaces helps the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," the star has commented.
He is far from the only musician to contribute his honor funds to worthy causes.
In the band received the prize in the year 1996 for their release the album, frontman the singer declared that the band would donate their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her bounty between multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," the artist explained to a publication.
Previously, the band donated their funds to the community center that supported their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients the group donated their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the illness.
"The victory was ample," said vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Last week, the trust shared it had saved two local spots in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the other in that location were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the venues.
