Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's grassroots concert spaces.
The star was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his third album the album was named the best record of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which benefits smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous small stages across Britain.
These funds assisted locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted funding support in upgrading facilities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from shows in big venues supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their release their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would give their cash to the organization War Child.
That year, artist she split her bounty across a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," she shared with the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally 1994 winners the group donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked singer Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the trust revealed it had protected several small stages in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.
