Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's independent live music spots.
Fender was awarded the award on October 16 as his third album his work was declared the top album of the previous year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist 38 local spots across the UK.
The donation assisted venues that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges stemming from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Some locations obtained funding support in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from concerts in major spaces supports the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has said.
The musician is not the first artist to give his award funds to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their record the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
In 2002, artist the artist divided her bounty between multiple organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to a publication.
In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year the group contributed their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had protected a couple of local spots in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
The first in the city and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the properties.
