Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the UK's grassroots music venues.
Fender was awarded the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages had in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation supported venues that were confronting possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.
"The notion that funds from shows in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
He is among several artists to contribute his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
When the band won the trophy in 1996 for their album the album, vocalist the singer announced that the band would give their cash to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, artist the artist split her prize across multiple charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the community center that nurtured their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year they donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," said artist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved two grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
One venue in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "shares" in the buildings.
